{"id":138361,"date":"2019-07-22T11:21:07","date_gmt":"2019-07-22T15:21:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=138361"},"modified":"2019-07-22T11:22:52","modified_gmt":"2019-07-22T15:22:52","slug":"volvo-considering-new-suv-flagship-along-with-new-entry-model","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2019\/07\/volvo-considering-new-suv-flagship-along-with-new-entry-model\/","title":{"rendered":"Volvo Considering New SUV Flagship, Along with New Entry Model"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Volvo has long wanted to take a step above its current flagship, the 2020 XC90 shown here.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Long known for its boxy wagons, Volvo is today becoming more and more of an SUV company, with its line-up of utility vehicles likely to continue expanding, according to the Swedish automaker\u2019s CEO.<\/p>\n

Among the new models reportedly in the works: both a new flagship that would be dubbed the XC100, as well as an entry model that would slot in below the current Volvo base model, the XC40. At the same time, the Chinese-owned carmaker is also set to expand its push into electrification with battery-powered versions of both the XC40 and the current brand flagship, the XC90, CEO Hakkan Samuelsson hinted at in a recent interview.<\/p>\n

One thing that Volvo appears to be steering away from is diesel, Samuelsson already announcing that the technology will begin being phased out this year, with no development work on future diesels in the company\u2019s plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not excluding the idea of additions, especially in very core segments like the SUV,\u201d Samuelsson said in an interview with Britain\u2019s Auto Express. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Volvo recalling over 500,000 vehicles for fire risk. <\/strong><\/em><\/span>Click Here for the full story.)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A separate story in the Swedish publication Teknickens Varld. The outlet focused on what is currently known inside the company as \u201cProject V616,\u201d the numbers translating, in Volvo code, to mean a large SUV entering an entirely new segment. The public will likely learn of it in the form of a new XC100.<\/p>\n

Volvo has been talking about adding something larger than the current XC90 for years, though former owner Ford wouldn\u2019t come up with the necessary funding. Current owner Zhejiang Geely has been far looser with the purse strings, perhaps encouraged by the fact that, with a total of 340,826 vehicles sold during the first half of this year, volume has nearly doubled from 2010, when Volvo sold a full-year total of just 373,525 vehicles.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A crossover even smaller than the base XC40 is apparently in the works, according to CEO Samuelsson.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While a new flagship like an XC100 would finally position the Swedes to be able to directly take on competition like the new BMW X7 and Mercedes-Benz GLS, that\u2019s not where the big growth in the market is occurring. Smaller SUVs are gaining lots of traction, especially outside the United States. So, Volvo could try to slot something underneath the current base model, the XC40.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just having more cash available that is encouraging Volvo to grow its line-up. The automaker now has two new Chinese assembly plants, as well as its first-ever U.S. factory, a facility that opened in Charleston south Carolina a year ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we also have the production capacity to grow this company, even a bit beyond 800,000-unit figure that we always talked about as a first ambition,\u201d Samuelsson told Auto Express.<\/p>\n

(Volvo’s Q2 profit tumble by more than half. <\/strong><\/em><\/span>Click Here to learn why.)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

What\u2019s significant is that the XC family of utility vehicles has paid off so handsomely. While Volvo continues to produce wagons and sedans, its various crossover models now account for 61% of global sales, up a full 10 percentage points in just a year, a figure expected to continue growing.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t expect to see the company to switch to utility vehicles entirely, though future wagons will try to appeal to crossover buyers. The next V40, for example, will be something of a \u201cpseudo-SUV,\u201d according to the CEO. Other products have already moved that way with \u201ccross country\u201d versions featuring higher ground clearance and more ute-like cladding.<\/p>\n

For all the focus on utility vehicles, the other big shift for Volvo is the ongoing move away from internal combustion power. For the near to mid-term, it will continue to use gas engines in various plug-in hybrid configurations, but the long-term will see more and more all-electric models in the mix, including versions of the XC40 and XC90, the first two to wear Volvo\u2019s \u201ciron marque\u201d logo.<\/p>\n

(Volvo Bringing Out Full-Electric XC40 By Year\u2019s End. <\/span><\/em>Click Here<\/span> for more.)<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath discusses the new Polestar 2, which is expected to go into production early next year.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There will be other electrics in the new Polestar brand that will only utilize battery-based drivetrain technology.<\/p>\n

The new brand\u2019s roll-out will begin later this year with the plug-in Polestar 1. The pure electric Polestar 2 was unveiled in February and should begin rolling out of one of Volvo\u2019s new plants in China starting early next year.<\/p>\n

“Initial launch markets include China, the United States, Canada, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK. Other markets are under consideration for future expansion”, the new brand said at the February debut of Polestar 2.<\/p>\n

At least two more models are reportedly in development, including the Polestar 3, an all-electric SUV that will target the likes of the new Audi e-tron, Jaguar I-Pace and Tesla Model Y. The Polestar 4 would compete in the same segment as the Tesla Model X, meanwhile, and share the flexible SPA 2 architecture underpinning Volvo\u2019s XC90. Don\u2019t expect to see it, however, until 2021 or 2022, according to various reports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Long known for its wagons, Volvo now is largely an SUV company, and it is hinting of plans to add both a new XC100 flagship and a sub-XC40 base model. The Swedish automaker also has big electrification plans, even as it phases out diesel, reports TheDetroitBureau.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":133963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8,5,12,9],"tags":[],"make":[35,36,68,85,110,114],"post-state":[],"category_old":[118,215,150,151,205,123,287,160,131,153,173,319,289,155,154,169,241,163,132,196,161,137,139,148,128,291,207,278,288,235],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138361"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138361"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=138361"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=138361"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=138361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}