In an interview with Britain’s Auto Express at the recent unveiling of the new S60 at the brand’s newly constructed plant in Charleston, South Carolina, company CEO Håkan Samuelsson said the XC90 will follow its sedan sibling in being sold without a diesel engine, making use instead of a range of petrol-electric drivetrains.
“We have to prioritise – we cannot do everything. So if we want to be faster in electrification we can’t say yes to everything. That’s why [the S60] has no diesel alternative and we are not planning to have a diesel alternative in any new cars. The XC90 will follow this,” Samuelsson said.
Quizzed as to whether the driving range of the hybrid motors would mirror those of the diesels, Samuelsson told the publication, “It has to have that – maybe not as long as a diesel, but the combination of properties has to be attractive so that car will be all-electric or hybrid”.
In a related interview, Volvo R&D Vice President, Henrik Green, stated that the next XC90 will come underpinned by a development of the current model’s Scalable Production Architecture (SPA) platform known as SPA2, which has been developed specifically to accommodate a hybrid drivetrain.
According to the publication, the XC90 will undergo a facelift next year before the newcomer, which will reportedly feature and evolutionary take on the signature Iron Mask styling and Thor’s Hammer LED headlights, makes its world debut in 2021.
