Volvo cars may not be right up there with their German rivals but that doesn’t make them less ambitious. The Swedish car maker under the new Chinese leadership of Geely is planning a comeback in the luxury car market. The V40 is already garnering good response in the auto world but it still relies on scores of old Ford technology.
The first all-new product from Volvo will be the XC90 replacement, which is expected to hit the production line in 2014. Autoexpress.co.uk brings us a rendering of what the 2014 XC90 might look like.
Why do we say it is a path defining product for Volvo?
To start with, it is based on the Scalable Platform Architecture (SPA), which will underpin every future Volvo car. This is a leaf taken from Volkswagen’s MQB book. Future Volvo cars will share 40 percent of their components, making them cheaper to build and enabling Volvo to give them an aggressive price tag.
The new XC90 will be powered by a new Volvo Environmental Architecture (VEA) family of engines. These are four cylinder pots available in both petrol and diesel avatars. These engines are developed keeping the recent downsizing trend in mind. The petrol drivetrain can be tweaked to produce power output from 140-280 bhp whereas the diesel motor can range from 120-230 bhp. These engines are 35% more fuel efficient and very low on emissions owing to a usage of turbo-charging techniques.
The XC90 will be offered with a choice of two manual gearboxes and an 8-speed automatic transmission. Volvo also has plans to develop a hybrid transmission that uses an electric motor to drive the rear axle. Nonetheless, the mechanical system of all-wheel drive is definitely part of the new SPA platform.
The all-new XC90 will be showcased at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show.
[Source: Autoexpress.co.uk via Auto.blog.rs]
