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Carsales Staff14 Aug 2014
NEWS

Volvos all-new by 2017

Swedish brand's ambitious new model plans seek to renew all existing Volvo models within a three-year window

The soon-to-be-revealed all-new XC90 will be Volvo's oldest model in just three years.

That's the inside word from the Scandinavia car-maker, which will unveil the all-important seven-seat full-sized soft-roader on August 26.

The unveiling will take place in the Swedish capital of Stockholm. The event will provide more details of the Chinese-owned marque's new Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) platform strategy and its Drive-E four-cylinder turbo and twin-charged engine range.

Volvo's new model rollout is still a closely guarded secret, but motoring.com.au can reveal it will be unprecedented.

A replacement for even the maker's most recent model, the V40 prestige hatch, will be unveiled within three years under the renewal.

The V40 was only launched internationally at the Geneva motor show in 2012. Under the timetable, the small car will be among the last of the models to be replaced circa 2017. The timeline will still make the V40 just five years young when it is overhauled.

Contrast this lifespan with the outgoing XC90, which will be fully 12 years old when the second-generation XC90 arrives Down Under next May, yet is still selling in reasonable volumes (just 50 units down year-to-date July, according to VFACTS).

While motoring.com.au hopes to confirm more details at the new XC90's launch in two weeks, Volvo's SPA-engineered new model rollout should look something like the timeline detailed below.

We also expect to learn more about the range of capacities and power outputs Volvo expects to offer across its Drive-E engine family.

The car-maker has been specific that it will restrict the cylinder count of the new engines to four -- in contrast to Jaguar Land Rover, which is also rolling out a new engine architecture in the coming weeks and with which Volvo once shared componentry.

While Volvo will launch three and four-cylinder Drive-Es, JLR's new Ingenium engine family will eventually expand to include six and eight-cylinder engines.

Volvo insiders say the Swedish fours aren't likely to be found lacking in most of its core marketplaces, however.

Thanks to a combination of turbocharging, supercharging and electrification, there are already strong hints that the new powertrain strategy will be able to address outputs well above the 300kW-plus already announced for the top T8 version of the new XC90.

Volvo SPA rollout:

2015
S90 large sedan: Aimed at the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, the Volvo flagship will be larger and more luxurious than the S80 it replaces. Coupe variant a potential halo car.
V80 and/or XC80 wagon/crossover variant: It's unclear whether both models will exist in the new line-up. Estates are big business in Europe and the XC90 was a hit in USA and markets like Australia so both are possible.

2016
XC60 SUV: All-new mid-size SUV will be a volume model for Volvo worldwide. This one's important for Volvo. Don't bet a against performance version to spice things up.

2017
S60/V60 medium sedan and wagon: The world's largest prestige volume segment, for now. Key to growth in Europe.
V40 hatch and variants: The new normal for prestige brands – volume sales of small hatch and variants. Will face even stiffer competition in the next generation as other brands enter segment.

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Written byCarsales Staff
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