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Volvo XC40 Rendering Doesn't Catch the Whole Potential of Volvo's New Design

Volvo is one of the fastest growing brands at the moment, and the fact that it’s operating on the premium segment of the market only makes that achievement even more impressive.
Volvo XC40 rendering 1 photo
Photo: Theophilus Chin
Ever since the new XC90 was launched, it seems like Volvo can’t do anything wrong. The S90 sedan was previewed a long time before its official launch (albeit in the form of a model car), and it still managed to wow us all when it was finally introduced earlier this year. That has to say something about the quality of the design, both exterior and interior, Volvo is offering its customers these days.

The Swedes are pretty bold in their powertrain options as well, only offering four-cylinder engines for their flagship SUV - considering BMW was making a big fuss about its two-liter four-cylinder engined X5 SUV only a few years ago, that took some guts from Volvo. This penury of cylinders is also the reason the most powerful version available is the T8 hybrid, something that’s still a bit conflicting with our idea of a hybrid and its role as an efficient solution above all else.

Since the SUVs are the hot article of the moment, it would make perfect sense for Volvo to expand its presence in the segment with a new model. The XC60, the compact SUV that’s been in the company’s lineup since 2008 and only recently received an update (in 2014), is selling brilliantly, but it will soon require a replacement. However, it’s not very likely that it will come ahead of the smaller model expected to take the fight to Audi Q3, BMW X1 or Mercedes-Benz GLA, which is due next year.

These three competing models aren’t the most cohesive group, with the Q3 and GLA more of a jacked-up hatchback and the new BMW X1 moving higher up the ranks towards a superior segment, so how the future XC40 will turn up is anyone’s guess. The mules we’ve seen so far wore a V40 body, but even though that doesn’t mean anything in itself, we’d still expect the new Volvo crossover to stick to the company’s more agile lines and shapes.

In other words, very much different to what Mr. Chin has come up with in these renderings. His car (called the XC30) is porky, having more in common with the larger XC90 than the sleeker XC60. Volvo’s crossovers have had this trait of looking like higher station wagons rather than proper SUVs, and we’d expect the XC40 to fall in line. Or, at least, we’d hope so.
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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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