Volvo has confirmed its future small auto offerings will be built on a unique-to-Volvo scalable platform dubbed the Compact Modular Achitecture (CMA), itself based on the larger Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) that underpins the XC90 and soon-to-be S90.
Advertisement
The end game for Volvo is to have a broad range of vehicles that cost less and take less effort to build, which should help the Swedish brand hit its goal of selling over 800,000 cars globally by the end of the decade. Both platforms will still share engines and safety systems, but for the most part, each will be used exclusively depending on the size of the vehicle.
Total sales at Volvo, bought by China’s Geely from Ford in 2010, are up 2 percent so far this year at 346,146 cars, driven by strong demand for the firm’s XC60 and XC90 models. The first entrant will likely be a compact crossover rolling out in 2017 to do battle with the likes of the BMW X1, Mazda CX-3, Mercedes-Benz GLA and their ilk. It would be good to see that again with a full-blown range of cutting-range electric cars; the question is whether the company can pull off such a turnaround. Both platforms will shared technology including powertrains (both conventional and new plug-in hybrid variants) as well as infotainment, climate, data network and safety systems.
The strategy includes developing plug-in hybrid versions of its 90 and 60 series, which Volvo has already started with a hybrid version of the new XC90 SUV.
“We believe that the time has come from electrified cars to cease being a niche technology and enter the mainstream”, Hakan Samuelsson, chief executive of Volvo Cars, said in a statement.
“We are in a terrific position with CMA”.
Advertisement
“We have learned a lot about how people use cars with electrification thanks to our current product offer”, said Dr Peter Mertens, Senior Vice President for Research and Development.
