Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson expects SUVs to account for a larger share of Volvo’s total sales. A smaller SUV under the XC40 should contribute further to this. That model will be fully electric, but it is not yet known when this car will be on the market.
It was already known that Volvo was working on a compact EV on the SEA platform of Geely. There were also substantiated suspicions that it would be an SUV. Samuelsson now seems opposite Automotive News further confirm. He says that with the addition of a ‘smaller SUV’, three quarters of all Volvo cars sold are expected to be SUVs in the future. Furthermore, the CEO emphasizes that the segment of the small premium SUVs is ‘very successful’. According to Samuelsson, Volvo can be competitive in that segment thanks to the relatively low cost of the SEA platform, which Volvo has developed together with Geely. It is not yet known when Volvo’s small electric SUV will be on the market. For the time being, it seems that this will not happen before 2022.
Volvo has ambitious plans in the EV field: by 2030, the Swedish-Chinese brand wants to stop selling cars with an internal combustion engine. That means that Volvo has to speed up the unveiling of EVs. This year it was the turn of the XC40 P8 Recharge, next year Volvo will launch a new EV on the same CMA platform. Samuelsson does not give any further details, other than that it should be a ‘more streamlined model’. Fans of the Volvo V40 can, however, immediately put their hopes for a successor on hold, which is not an issue, according to Samuelsson.
Positioned higher
Despite the compact electric SUV that Volvo has in the pipeline, the brand will continue to focus mainly on the higher segments of the market. That somewhat resembles the strategy that Mercedes-Benz now also uses. Lynk & Co will account for the lower price segment. In 2022, the new XC90 is planned, which also comes as an EV. The CEO does not rule out the possibility that an SUV will be placed above the XC90. Time will tell how this is reflected in practice.