With the S40 gone and the C30 on its way out the door, Volvo has a few holes in its line that Audi and BMW are happy to fill with the all-new A3 and 1-Series, respectively.
Enter the V40, a five-door hatch that’s one of the most attractive designs from Sweden since the Ikea Skürg. It’s a svelte bit of kit, with an organic fascia bleeding into a subtly sculpted hood and capped off with a sloping roofline that can be had in full panoramic glass.
Like the exterior, the interior is a mild evolution of Volvo’s current design ethos, with a minimalist, floating center stack situated beneath a large touchscreen display.
Power is provided by Volvo’s ubiquitous 254-horsepower turbocharged five-cylinder mated to either a six-speed automatic or manual gearbox, good for a 6.7-second run to 60 mph. Start-stop tech and regenerative braking are standard, along with Volvo’s usual suite of safety features.
But alas, the V40 is not for U.S. consumption. Which is a shame, because the States could gain from an option that slots in with the entry-level Germans. Check out the finish press release below.
Two images of the 2013 Volvo V40 broke onto Facebook recently and it seems their friends didn’t want to be left behind. Fourteen more press shots of Volvo’s new five-door hatchback just burgled their way onto the Web, and from the front three-quarter it looks like a worthy competitor to the the Audi A3 and BMW 1 Series.
Of course we don’t have whatever more information, so we don’t know which other Volvo family member or members it’ll replace. However, we do get to see its interior, which is an evolution of that in the S60 and C30. More harmonized in design detail and more striking in materials, the dash cluster is reorganized and housed in metallic surrounds, while the center console moves even further toward Scandinavian minimalism.
We’ve also discovered a Volvo commercial for the V40, which you’ll find after the jump. It will be revealed officially at the Geneva Motor Show, which is hopefully when we’ll find out if and when it’s coming to the U.S.
Volvo C30 Hatchback should launching in 2012
Volvo wants more power to fight in the disputed segment hatches medium and therefore works in a five-door model that will have the same platform as the current C30. But as the project is not merely an adaptation, it is expected that the Volvo C30 Hatchback car will be ready only in 2012.
Now under the instruction of the Chinese Geely brand, Volvo wants to increase its market share in Europe and an medium five-door model is essential to attain a higher sales volume as one of the most representative in Europe. In addition, the Swedish manufacturer wants to have a new identity in front of their cars, according to CEO Stefan Jacoby regarding the Volvo C30 Hatchback.
