Volvo will introduce its first all-new vehicle developed under the ownership of China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group in late 2014. The announcement was made by Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson, who added that the car will be a successor for to the XC90 SUV.
The platform for the next-generation XC90 is being engineered in Sweden and will also be used by the successor to the S80 sedan. The platform is known internally as SPA, which stands for Scalable Product Architecture, as it can accommodate various power trains, including Volvo’s first production plug-in hybrid system.
Once the brand’s bestseller, the XC90 recorded only 31,290 sales last year, a fall of 21 percent compared with 2011. Samuelsson said at the Geneva Motor Show that the decision to delay the introduction of a new XC90 was not a fortunate one.
Aside from the large S80/XC90 platform, Volvo is also co-developing with Geely a new compact platform for smaller models, many of which will be built at a new Volvo plant in Chengdu, China. Samuelsson said Volvo is also considering the introduction of even smaller subcompact models, following in the footsteps of its competitors BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
After the discontinuation of the C30, Volvo’s smallest model at the moment is the V40 hatchback.
By Dan Mihalascu
Story References: Reuters
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