First Look – Next Volvo S40 Small Car

Chinese-owned* Volvo Cars today unveiled two new S40 concept cars that marks the official launch of its global small car strategy. Volvo plans to expand into the global market for premium small cars with a range of  vehicles that combine “bold exterior and interior design” (yawn – editor) with claimed industry-leading connectivity, electrification and autonomous drive technologies. Production starts in 2017.

It appears that Volvo’s new T5 Twin Engine powertrain – which has a new 3-cylinder gasoline engine and a new 7-speed dual-clutch transmission coupled to an electric motor – indicates Volvo is abandoning its existing Twin Engine all-wheel drive designs for a more efficient front-wheel drive system on its smaller cars.

Volvo plans to sell a total of ~1 million electrified cars by 2025 globally.

The new S40 concept cars will be the first built around Volvo’s new Compact Modular Architecture (CMA), which has been specially created for smaller cars. An electric powertrain program including both a new compact Twin Engine plug-in hybrid, and a pure electric car are key products using the CMA architecture.

“Each member of our product family has its own distinct character, just like the members of a real family. CMA has helped us to capture something special, something youthful in our new concept cars,” claimed Thomas Ingenlath, Senior Vice President, Design, at Volvo Car Group.

*Volvo has been in operation since 1927. Volvo Cars had sales of 503,127 during 2015, operating in ~100 countries. Volvo Cars has been owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding (Geely Holding) of China since 2010. It formed part of the Swedish Volvo Group – cars and trucks – until 1999, when the company was bought by Ford Motor Company.