Volvo is said to be considering a significant expansion of its SUV line-up, which could include a new model to slot below the XC40 and another to sit above the XC90 at the top of its range.
During a recent interview with Auto Express, CEO Hakan Samuelsson revealed the Swedish car manufacturer is looking to expand and will target the industry’s key growth segments.
“Our strategy has been growth, but not through adding pure volumes. We have been going in hard and being better in segments where we have a really strong offering. That is the basic assumption. And now we also have the production capacity to grow this company,” he said. “But we are not excluding the idea of additions, especially in very core segments, like the SUV. I think we are looking into this possibility now. You should not exclude the idea that there might be a bigger one, but maybe also a smaller one. We will surprise you about that in the future.”
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It is claimed that the first of these models could be similar in size to the Audi Q2 and Mini Countryman, measure approximately four meters (13-feet) in length and be underpinned by a downsized version of the automaker’s CMA platform. As for its name, Volvo owns the XC10, XC20, and XC30 trademarks for almost 20 years now, so it could use any of them, although considering its naming scheme, we think XC20 is the most likely.
“We have a very strong line-up of SUVs. So never say never,” Samuelsson said about the possibility of a new baby Volvo SUV. “There’s a trend now that premiumness is more and more decoupled from size. Small cars can also be premium. Just because you have a small suit, it doesn’t have to be polyester.”
As for the new SUV to slot above the XC90, it could be dubbed the XC100 and arrive in 2022. It may introduce an all-new platform dubbed SPA2 that can support vehicles up to 5.5-meters (18-feet) in length. The XC100 would likely share parts with a new Polestar model in the works said to also be a large SUV.