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All-New Volvo C30 Wants a Digital Piece of the Premium Hatchback Pie

Only a few premium car companies still have hatchbacks in their portfolio, and Volvo isn’t among them anymore. In fact, they haven’t been ever since they discontinued the C30 in 2013, and the V40 in 2019.
Volvo C30 - Rendering 9 photos
Photo: Instagram | automotive.diffusion
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Made from 2006 at the Ghent factory in Belgium, the Volvo C30 was only offered as a three-door, with front-wheel drive solely, and a variety of gasoline and diesel engines. These were mated to five- or six-speed manual, and five- or six-speed automatic transmissions.

Based on the same platform as the era’s S40, as well as the V50, and C70, the C30 only lived for a single generation. Its successor, which was rechristened the V40, was dropped three years ago, leaving the Swedish company with no model to rival the likes of the Audi A3 Sportback, Mercedes-Benz A-Class, and BMW 1 Series.

But what if the C30 was to make a return? Why the C30 and not the V40, you ask? For the simple fact that the renderings released online over the weekend by automotive.diffusion imagine a modern take on the three-door, and not on the five-door, which was the only body style available for the V40.

Being instantly recognizable as something Volvo would make, it has the Thor’s hammer LED headlamps flanking the typical grille that is decorated by the corporate logo. The overall styling of the car is rather sharp, and it sports a pair of thin taillights at the back, on each side of the tailgate. It has reflectors flanking the rear license plate, and a diffuser with metal-like trim in the middle, and what seem to be fake exhaust tips on either side.

Frameless side windows should be part of the makeover, together with a redesigned cockpit, with emphasis on the latest technology features available at Volvo, not to mention a host of new powertrains, including some electrified ones. Polestar would obviously be in charge of the all-electric variant(s), which would keep it on the competitive side of the segment for years to come.

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About the author: Cristian Gnaticov
Cristian Gnaticov profile photo

After a series of unfortunate events put an end to Cristian's dream of entering a custom built & tuned old-school Dacia into a rally competition, he moved on to drive press cars and write for a living. He's worked for several automotive online journals and now he's back at autoevolution after his first tour in the mid-2000s.
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