Volvo Is Going Small In A Big Way
Volvo is popularly known for building safe cars and for selflessly waiving their patent rights to the three-point seatbelt so other manufacturers can adopt it and thus, helped save countless lives.
Other notable Volvo achievements, many of which are now taken for granted, include the curtain airbag, Lambda Sond (oxygen sensor), whiplash protection system, side impact protection system, blind spot information system, city safety system and even the rear-facing child car seat.
The company went through a rough patch as Ford could barely keep the Swedish swagger going as rivals upped their ‘safety’ game too. After Zhejiang Geely Holding, a China automotive group, acquired Volvo, it went back to the drawing board and it looks like they’ve drawn the future. The introduction of the imposing XC90 SUV with its distinctive Thor’s Hammer headlights showed that this Swedish marque is hammering home the point that it will be a major contender in the future of the automobile.
Benefiting from Geely’s financial backing, Volvo has unveiled its grand plans for future models with the preview of its Concept 40 series. Concepts 40.1 and 40.2 are a compact crossover and notchback sedan respectively. Both concepts shout crossover (which is quite trendy now) despite their intended differentiation and represent a series of upcoming models which will compete with the likes of everything from a VW Golf to an Audi Q3.
These new models will utilize Volvo’s new CMA (C-platform Modular Architecture) platform, jointly developed by Volvo and Geely, that is meant for small, light vehicles; Volvo’s bigger vehicles i.e. XC90, S60 and S90 use the SPA (Scalable Platform Architecture). The 40.1 should be called the XC40 when its time to market and features tail lights inspired by the new XC90 while the 40.2 which also rides high gets S90-type tail lights and a sloping roofline. Both designs will keep Thor’s Hammer.
Powering these vehicles will be members of the new engine family which incidentally are also going big on small. In a recent briefing by Volvo Cars Malaysia MD, Lennart Stegland, on Volvo’s powertrain strategy, Volvo will run its future cars (for the next 10 years at least) with downsized Drive-E engines as emissions regulations for diesel and petrol engines (NOx, CO2, hydrocarbons) become increasingly stricter. Its engines will range from as small as a 3-cylinder 1.5-litre to a 4-cylinder 2-litre.
These engines, developed in-house courtesy of Geely funds, have capacities that will earn the scoff of petrolheads. But this is the future (and Volvo we’re talking about) and Volvo has a long history of turbocharging their cars so, with the new downsizing of displacement come also the upsizing of output. Volvo terms it down-speeding, which is to make torque available at low engine speeds. The 3-cylinder 1.5-litre petrol engine is said to be able to produce 200 hp while the 4-cylinder 2-litre supercharged and turbocharged engine in the just-introduced locally assembled S60 T6 has an output of 306 hp. In comparison, the Porsche Cayman S gets 325 hp from a bigger 3.4-litre engine.
Another benefit of a smaller engine is the weight savings which will in turn increase fuel efficiency and contribute to a reduction in emissions. The Drive-E engines are also designed to maximize parts commonality and modularity in an effort to reduce cost and are ready for electrification. In short, Volvo has prepared their engines to be ready for different states of tune and emissions requirements.
The first 40-series should be the XC40 which is scheduled to start production in 2017. It should also come with Pilot Assist, Volvo’s semi-autonomous driving system, in line with Volvo’s eventual goal of fully autonomous vehicles and its 2020 death-proof promise. With such exciting technologies coming from Volvo, it’s not surprising to find yourself rooting for the Swedes.
