Smaller all-electric Volvo SUV here soon

VOLVO will have renewed enough of its model line-up for its Australian arm to execute a shift to sell only electric-powered vehicles from 2026, bookended by a small electric SUV to sit below the XC40 and join the EX90 large SUV on production lines by the end of this year.

In a recent conversation with Australian journalists in Melbourne, Volvo Cars CEO and president Jim Rowan confirmed the brand’s smallest model is on a similar timeline to the EX90.

“We should have most of the models renewed by then,” he said when asked if Volvo’s new-model cycle would be completed by 2026.

“We released the ‘90’ in October or November, which is the first time we’ve released a fully electric 90, and we released details of a smaller SUV, which we kind of teased with you guys back in November.

“So, there is a smaller SUV, which I think will be announced sometime toward the middle of June this year, and both of those cars (the smaller SUV and EX90) will be in production by the end of this year.”

Given its expected position and price – which are both expected to slot below the current XC40 Recharge (from $72,990 plus on-road costs) – Mr Rowan said the forthcoming model will likely hold appeal for younger buyers, saying it was important that the Volvo brand continue to appeal to newer, more youthful audiences.

“The newer smaller SUV that’s an addition to the range is really important to us,” he said.

“The age demographic that we (currently) have available to us is a little bit older than we would like. We would like to get some more younger people i

nto the brand, let’s say, and (to do that) we’ll offer a really nice price point, I think, for what is an entry-point, very safe and still-good-sized model.

“We’re going to talk to a completely different demographic for the first time, and that younger demographic will probably be the ones who shop online … so we may offer that car as a subscription model and at a really low price point so that you get a really good monthly cost.”

Mr Rowan did not say what the model would be named, but suggested Volvo would retain the current nomenclature model, suggesting the small SUV offering will likely be dubbed EX20, EX30 or similar.

“One of the things I really like about Volvo is the simplicity of the nomenclature,” he explained.

“Everybody kind of knows that a ‘V’ is a wagon, an ‘S’ is a sedan and the four or six refers to the size. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure it out. … and I just like that convention, the simplicity of that, and I think it talks to who we are as a company.

“So, when we did the EX90, it was taken that it was a fully electric version of the XC90 … so that would be my guidance on that, I would like to see us trying to keep that (naming strategy) simplistic.”

It is expected the small model will be built either on the Volvo Compact Modular Architecture, which underpins the current C40, XC40 and Polestar 2, or on the Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) platform sourced from Volvo’s parent company, Geely.

More information will be released closer to the model’s global launch in June of this year.