Detroit show: Volvo XC Coupe leaks
BY MIKE COSTELLO | 8th Jan 2014
09/01/2014IMAGES of Volvo’s forthcoming XC Coupe concept have leaked online a week before its scheduled world premiere at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
The bold two-door crossover borrows heavily from the lower and sleeker Concept Coupe that wowed showgoers in Frankfurt last September – small surprise considering both were penned by Volvo’s new design chief Thomas Ingenlath.
The XC Coupe is the second in a series of three promised concept cars from Volvo. The car you see here gives a good guide to the projected styling of the long overdue XC90 seven-seater due in 2015, and the next version of its smaller XC60 sibling.
Naturally, production versions of both will have four doors and more practicality, though it’s worth pointing out that a roadgoing three-door version like this concept would give Volvo a red-hot rival to the massively popular Range Rover Evoque.
“The Volvo Concept XC Coupé is another demonstration of what our new architecture is capable of," said Mr Ingenlath.
"It brings us a bit closer to the All-New XC90. But it goes without saying that a three-row, seven-seater will have a larger and fuller look than this four-seater. Volvo Concept XC Coupé is more of a Cross Country version of a sleek sports wagon.”It’s unclear at this stage what form the third concept in the series will take, but expect to see it this year at one of the major European motor shows – perhaps Geneva in March – or even at the Beijing show in April.
Volvo has previously confirmed the latest concept is based on the ‘Scalable Platform Architecture’ (SPA) that will form the basis for a number of its future mid-size and large vehicles. All SPA models will pack ‘Drive-E- family four-cylinder powertrains.
SPA models such as the eventual production version of the XC Coupe will have extensive high-strength boron steel.
Volvo has already confirmed it will incorporate ‘driverless’ technology into its new architecture and the 2015 XC90 is set to be the first production model to be built using the new underpinnings.
Design highlights of the XC Coupe include the wild S-shaped tail-lights, bulging wheelarches and fat haunches, sharply raked rear windowline, a large rounded-rectangle grille and a split T-shaped headlight design.
