Volvo matches Benz with V40 pricing

Volvo will take on Mercedes-Benz A-Class almost dollar-for-dollar with its new V40 premium hatch.

The all-new car, which goes on sale from March 1, will be offered across three specification levels -- and with a total of four engines -- with pricing that counters the aggressive entry into the Australian market of the baby Benz.

And to sweeten the deal, Volvo Australia has thrown in three years scheduled servicing, but left out its latest four-cylinder petrol engines

The V40’s pricing was a closely held secret until the local launch of the car in Adelaide tonight. Like the A-Class, the new V40’s pricing kicks off firmly in mainstream hatch territory -- $34,990 for the 1.6-litre entry level Kinetic D2 turbodiesel. And the new V40 range will match the Benz’s bandwidth with prices spread through to $49,990. That sticker is reserved for the range topping 6.1sec zero to 100km/h (187kW/400Nm) turbopetrol T5 R-Design.

Mid-spec D4 and T4 models will be offered in the choice of Kinetic and Luxury grades. A full rundown of the pricing is listed below.

But the devil is in the detail... Though the V40 is available internationally with Volvo’s latest turbo four-cylinder petrol engines, matched to dual-clutch automated gearboxes, local buyers will choose from a truncated powertrain line-up.

Flying in the face of the segment's focus on four-cylinder engines, three of the four choices for Aussie buyers are five-cylinder units. And there’s not a dual-clutch transmission to be seen. The base grade D2 is manual only and all of the automatics offered are conventional six-speed Geartronic epicyclic units.

Two petrol and two diesel engines will be offered Down Under – all wearing Volvo’s latest ‘performance’ related nomenclature

The T4 petrol features a DOHC 20-valve 2.0-litre five-cylinder, while the T5 raises the capacity of the blown five to 2.5-litres. The smaller engine is rated at 132kW at 5000 rpm and 300Nm spread from 2700-4000rpm. The T5's output is a muscular 187kW at 5400rpm with torque pegged at 360Nm from 1800-4200rpm.

Both engines are matched exclusively to conventional six-speed automatic transmissions.

The T4 accelerates to 100km/h in 8.7sec and returns a combined fuel consumption figure of 7.6L/100km. The T5 is a good bit faster, bettering Benz’s A 250 Sport and stopping the clocks at 6.1sec for the same increment, but is also thirstier at 8.1L/100km.

The sole four-cylinder V40 at launch locally is the aforementioned 1.6-litre SOHC D2. The 84kW (at 3600rpm) and 270Nm (from 1750-2500rpm) direct-injected turbodiesel powers the D2 to 100km/h in 11.9sec, but the car is the most frugal of the V40 range at 4.2L/100km. It is offered with six-speed manual only in Australia and claims better fuel economy than the 90kW A 200 CDI.

The top-spec diesel is the D4. The newest engine in the range, the 2.0-litre five-cylinder engine pumps out 130kW at 3500rpm and delivers 400Nm from 1750-2750rpm. It is available in both six-speed manual and automatic variants. The manual is rated at 4.9L/100km (combined) with the auto 0.4L thirstier at 5.3L/100km. The auto accelerates faster from rest than the manual, hitting 100km/h in 8.3sec (versus 8.6sec).

All V40 engines feature idle stop-start.

The three model grades offer stepped levels of standard equipment. Key inclusions across the range include a new three-mode digital instrument panel (see pictured), cruise control, rear parking sensors, LED daytime running lights, alloy wheels (16- through18-inch depending on model), auto wipers and headlights and seven airbags (including a driver’s kneebag).

Key safety inclusions are Volvo’s new Pedestrian Airbag System and City Safety autonomous braking (see pictured) which is now operable up to 50km/h. The V40 is the best rated vehicle EuroNCAP has yet tested.

Kinetic is the V40’s entry-level grade and gets cloth trim, a powered driver’s seat, halogen headlights and a five-inch multifunction centre stack display.

Step up to V40 Luxury, available in a choice of T4 and D4 powertrains, and you add a powered passenger's seat, leather upholstery, bi-Xenon active headlights, satnav with a seven-inch display and a rear parking camera.

As noted above, the top-of-the-line T5-only R-Design adds sports seats with upgraded leather, plus internal and external design tweaks and a body kit.

In keeping with its long-standing commitment to safety, Volvo will also offer a Driver Support Pack including around $9000 worth of electronic driver aids (including Adaptive Cruise and a new radar-facilitated blind spot and cross-traffic detection system) priced at $5000 on upper-grade V40 models.

The company says the V40’s free servicing deal is valued at between $1500 and $2500 depending on the model and the amount of kilometres its owner covers in the three-year period. Free scheduled servicing is capped at a maximum of 60,000km, however.

Volvo Australia disputed motoring.com.au assertion that the company had limited the V40’s powertrain range locally to help keep prices in check.

“There are a range of engines offered internationally, but it’s a case of what engines have been made available to Australia,” Volvo Australia boss, Matt Braid, stated.

“We’ve selected from a group [of powertrains] we can homologate... Demand in other markets [based on taxation regimes and the like] also plays a part in what’s made available to us,” he told motoring.com.au.

Mr Braid also dismissed claims that the V40’s pricing was a reaction to Mercedes_Benz's positioning of the A-Class.

Last year, Mr Braid stated that Volvo would not match Benz in its quest to price the A-Class from around $35,000. He said he believed such a move would devalue the Volvo brand.

“We knew Mercedes would be aggressive with the pricing. We knew it would be around that figure [$35K] and final pricing was a bit of a surprise. [But] Their volume aspirations are much bigger than ours,” Mr Braid stated.

“We want our piece of the segment [but] we are not going to tackle Mercedes-Benz head-on, so to speak... Pricing wise we are there or thereabouts depending what you want from an engine point of view... [But] This pricing is pretty much what we’ve had in mind from day one.

“Obviously we were watching [other cars in the segment] but the pricing we’ve got is what we [had] targeted. It hasn’t been reactionary,” he said.

Visit motoring.com.au again soon for our launch review of the new Volvo V40.

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