In an interview with Britain’s Autocar, Lex Kerssemakersstated that the rising surge in SUV popularity, plummeting sales and the need for electrification have been the main contributors in the decision to gradually replace the V40 and its Cross Country offshoot with an alleged coupe-styled SUV.
“We need to do something more creative, which is why we decided not to replace the V40 [directly]. We can’t launch a car that isn't equipped to be fully electrified,” Kerssemakers told the publication in reference to the Chinese-owned marque’s strategy of replacing diesel engines with petrol/electric drivetrains announced in 2017.
“We can’t wait too long to introduce the new car. We don’t want to lose our space in the segment. We are still confident that we can cover certain parts of the market, although not the die-hard hatchback fans”.
In May last year, Volvo CEO Håkan Samuelsson revealed that higher than expected demand had forced the company to up production of the multi-award winning XC40 at its Ghent Plant in Belgium, leaving question marks over the future of the V40 produced in the same factory.
“The small SUV segment is the fastest-growing segment in the industry now, and with these additional CMA-based models we expect to benefit further from that growth,” Samuelsson said at the time.
Although still be officially announced, speculation is that the rumoured XC20 will eventually take over from the V40, bringing to an end the only model still using hardware from previous owner Ford, namely the Global C platform whose roots can be traced back to 2003, as well as the range of non-Drive-E engines.
