Volvo V40 Going Out Of Production Later This Year, Could Be Replaced By A Crossover Coupe

A number of automakers are eliminating sedans and hatchbacks, and it looks like Volvo will soon be following suit.

According to Autocar, Volvo’s senior vice president of the EMEA region confirmed the V40 will cease production later this year. The news isn’t terribly surprising as the model was introduced at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show and is the company’s only remaining product not built on the newer CMA or SPA platform.

While the hatchback will be going away, it will eventually be replaced by what Lex Kerssemakers described as a higher-riding vehicle. The executive was careful not to call the model a crossover, but Autocar says the V40’s replacement will be a crossover coupe.

That remains to be seen, but Kerssemakers said designers are already working on the model and it could be ready within two years. That’s a relatively quick turnaround and executive noted the urgency behind the move as he stated “We can’t wait too long to introduce the new car” as “we don’t want to lose our space in the segment.”

While the V40 and V40 Cross Country aren’t offered in the United States, the hatchback is relatively popular in Europe. Carsalesbase data shows Volvo sold over 70,000 V40s on the continent in 2017. That’s a respectable number, but sales have been fallen consistently since 2015.

In order to reverse this trend, the V40 successor will apparently become a sportier version of XC40. The magazine suggests the model will be slightly lower than the standard crossover and have a sleeker roofline. That’s pretty vague, but Kerssemakers noted a number of V40 customers have since purchased an XC40.  Given this, it’s probably a wise move to base its replacement on the popular crossover.