the XC40 for crossovers and the V40 in terms of passenger cars. But going forward, the Swedish company with Chinese financial backing is set to go even smaller thanks to the Sustainable Experience Architecture previewed at the Beijing Auto Show.
The Chinese conglomerate has also mentioned subcompact to mid-size models on the Sustainable Experience Architecture, translating to a highly scalable platform that should be easy to adapt across all group brands. Single, double, triple motors, and even a range extender in the pipeline, along with a high-performance variant capable of hitting 62 miles per hour (100 km/h) in less than 3.0 seconds.
According to Auto Express and reports in the Chinese media, “Volvo is pushing ahead with plans for a smaller sport utility vehicle” thanks to the Geely-designed vehicle architecture we’ve talked about in the previous paragraphs. Potentially called XC20, the newcomer is also described as “a very premium Volvo.”
“We will also use SEA,” said head honcho Hakan Samuelsson. “SEA has been developed in China, and with Chinese suppliers, you get a very good cost structure. But with a Volvo top hat on.” That’s not all, though, because the Swedish company happens to hold the rights to many trademarks, including XC10. The chief exec has also mentioned that more SEA models are planned, starting with a small SUV.
Although we don’t know when the XC20 will hit dealership lots, the cited publication understands from Samuelsson that “by 2025” is a good guess. That’s the year Volvo expects half of its sales to be pure electric and the other half to feature hybridization like the Recharge T5 and T8 plug-in hybrids.