Volvo’s tough little robot touches down
The XC40 babySUV to take on BMW, Jaguar and MercedesBenz. David Linklater reports.
There’s a rush of premiumsmall SUVs at the moment. What’s a ‘‘premium-small SUV’’? Something that’s baby-size like a Holden Trax or Mazda CX-3, but comes from an upmarket brand and has the quality, equipment... and price that goes with the p-word.
Think Audi Q3, Mercedes-Benz GLA and Range Rover Evoque. Think also BMW’s just-launched X2 and the closely related X1, or the soon-to-arrive Jaguar E-Pace.
Globally, this segment accounted for less than 100,000 cars in 2010. Last year, it nearly cracked a million.
Premium brands are usually known for being serious and sober, but it’s become a bit of a thing in this genre to be slightly cheeky and subversive.
So while the larger XC60 and XC90 are essentially scale versions of each other, the XC40 has its own style in every respect.
As it should: it’s the first Volvo to be built on the Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) platform, so it’s really part of a different family to the company’s larger SUVs, which are based on the Scalable Product Architecture (SPA). Frank Vacca, commercial programme leader for the XC40 based in Gothenburg, was in Auckland to talk media through the new car.
‘‘We didn’t just want to shrink a large car down,’’ he says. ‘‘We wanted XC40 to have its own identity, its own character, its own punch.
‘‘If you think about the competition, customers are very clear that they want a car that looks like an SUV. With XC40, there is no mistake: it’s the tallest, it’s the widest, it has the highest ground clearance, it has the largest wheels in the segment [720mm diameter], and it has the highest seating position.’’
But it was also part of the XC40 brief to present a product that’s cute and clever.
Lead designer Ian Kettle is a scifi fan and calls the car a ‘‘tough little robot’’. The car’s packaging incorporates many ideas picked up from customer clinics run by Vacca’s department.
Examples: storage is key for an SUV and for the XC40 Volvo has liberated space in the door bins by removing the audio speakers from that area, replacing them with ‘‘Air Woofer’’ technology mounted in the firewall.
There’s a charging pad large enough to contain today’s supersized cellphones, the centre console is the right size for a box of tissues and there are drawers under the seats.
In the cargo area, the floor is flush with the loading lip.
That same floor is also segmented and can be folded up to form a partition for loose items. In this position, the hinges also serve as high-mounted hooks for grocery or takeaway bags. And so on.
It was look but don’t drive this time around.
But even as static display, the XC40 impressed for its high style, high-quality cabin and individuality. It has bespoke interior styling, although much of the technology (including the virtual instrument panel and Sensus nine-inch touch-screen) comes straight from Volvo’s larger SUVs.
It’ll be a somewhat staggered rollout for the XC40 in NZ. The flagship model will come first: fifty examples of the T5 R-Design AWD will be available from April.
This $72,900 model is powered by a 2.0-litre turbo-four with 182kW/350Nm, getting to 100kmh in 6.5 seconds and returning 7.1 litres per 100km in the Combined cycle.
But from June the range will fill out from the bottom, starting with the T4 Momentum at $59,900: it gets 140kW/300Nm (8.4sec, 6.8l) and is front-drive only. The same engine is fitted to the more luxuryoriented T4 Inscription at $67,900, but it comes in AWD.
The local powertrain strategy reflects Kiwi market trends: the small-SUV segment was 94 per cent petrol last year and 70 per cent two-wheel drive. Once the T5 R-Design rush is over, Volvo NZ expects the entry Momentum to be the volume seller. Overall, the XC40 is a key element in the Kiwi distributor’s plan to grow 30 per cent from 500 sales in 2017 to 700 this year.
As you’d expect of a tough little robot, there’s a lot of safety equipment standard across the range: everything from blind-spot warning to rear cross-traffic alert with autobrake.
The Momentum has 18-inch wheels, LED headlights, power driver’s seat with memory, parkassist front and rear and wireless mobile phone charging.
The Inscription adds 19-inch wheels, visible tail pipes (they’re hidden on the entry model), crystal gearshift knob, keyless entry, handsfree tailgate and leather ‘‘comfort’’ seats with power operation for the front passenger.
The flagship R-Design can be identified by a contrast black roof and gloss-black exterior detailing, and adds 20-inch wheels, sports suspension, aluminium interior trim elements, Nappa leather and R-Design gear knob, pedals and steering wheel.
Thirty of that initial shipment of 50 R-Design models will be the $78,900 Launch Edition, which ups the ante once more with heated front seats, alarm, adaptive cruise control, Pilot Assist automateddrive features, 360-degree camera, self-parking, tinted windows, power-folding rear seats, panoramic sunroof and Harman Kardon premium sound system.
Customers can recreate the Launch Edition model by adding the Driver Support Pack, Lifestyle Pack and heated seats/alarm to the standard T5 R-Design, although doing so would take the end price to $81,285.