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2021 Volvo C30 Rendering Is a Three-Door C40 Recharge With Naming Issues

Are we so far down the rabbit hole we can't even imagine a future model without it being an SUV or a crossover? Well, when not even sacrosanct names such as Mustang are safe from the pandemic anymore (yes, Mach-E, we're looking at you), we guess we can expect the worst from any model.
2021 Volvo C30 Rendering 59 photos
Photo: Nikita Aksyonov via Behance
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Some people hoped the switch to electric powertrains would bring an end (or at least curb its growth) to the SUV trend, because EVs were all about efficiency, and SUVs weren't. It made sense, as big, heavy vehicles with poor aerodynamics make for bad EVs.

Sadly, the truth couldn't be further away. Yes, all that is true, but there's one more thing worth mentioning: the SUV (use the term interchangeably with "crossover") shape also provided the best solution to hide the vehicle's extra height generated by sticking the batteries into the floor. So, with this simple solution at hand and the public's seemingly insatiable demand for SUVs, what were the manufacturers supposed to do?

We shouldn't be surprised, then, if Volvo launched an all-new C30 model and it looked nothing like the hatchback from 2006 we all know—and some maybe even love—that went by the same name. Oh, and since it would be a new model from the Swedish manufacturer, it goes without saying it would have an electric powertrain; after all, Volvo said it would sell nothing but BEVs by 2030.

But assuming that happened, the 2021 C30 would hopefully look nothing like this rendering. That's because the car you're looking at is nothing but a three-door C40 Recharge. It's essentially the even less family-friendly version of Volvo's tiny electric crossover or, if you prefer, its brother that has yet to settle down.

Why shouldn't a 2021 Volvo C30 look like this rendering from Nikita Aksyonov, then? Well, that's because the C30 name already stands for something. There may not be that much history behind the moniker itself, but the 2006 model was itself (kind of) a tribute to one of the Swedish brand's classics: the 1800ES shooting brake with its iconic frameless all-glass tailgate. We don't know about you, but we feel that's something worth revisiting, so keeping the C30 nameplate vacant would make plenty of sense.

With Tesla announcing a mysterious $25,000 model that everyone expects to be a hatchback and Volkswagen betting big on the ID.3, it's hard to imagine Volvo won't join in on the party. Whether that model will be called C30 or not, however, remains to be seen.
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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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