A leaked teaser. How odd.
Swedish carmaker Volvo is set to introduce a brand-new baby SUV to its lineup in 2018, and it appears that the marque’s German colleagues couldn’t wait to share the news. The XC40 will be the very first of a new generation of Series-40 cars from the brand, underpinned by its ‘Compact Modular Architecture’ (CMA) that will be targeted at an audience more youthful than its current sales headliners, the XC60 and XC90 SUVs.
On the teaser, we can now see clearly how the rear of the little crossover will shape up, with signature upwards taillights and a rather upright rump. While this will be the first compact crossover by the company, it’s notable that the rear design of the car is distinctly different from Volvo SUVs in the past, that have always featured very shapely rear ends. That said, the slightly stubby rear is hardly a surprise, as a more tapered roofline (and a subsequently more dramatic look) would have hampered rear headroom significantly, given the compact size of the car.
*Comparing the Concept 40.1 to the XC40, the production car stays faithful to the concept
The XC40’s design language was previewed first in the Concept 40.1 from 2016, and featured a more stout-looking SUV rather than the flowing, elegant lines of the XC90 and smaller XC60. With a more upright stance, the XC40 will offer an impressive number of personalisation options, in far more adventurous fashion than Volvo has been in the past, with previous official teasers talking about things like orange carpets and red leather. The exterior is expected to be customisable too, given that this segment puts an enormous emphasis on style and individuality.
The XC40 will see power coming from Volvo’s smaller Drive-E engines, like the 1.5-litre three-pot turbo petrol, which will be mated to an eight-speed automatic or a six-speed manual, with higher-end models to feature plug-in hybrid technology or even the larger four-cylinder Drive-E units. It’s expected that the compact Volvo SUV will break cover at the Frankfurt motorshow in September, with local sales to commence sometime in Q2 2018.
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