In today’s new-car market, it doesn’t seem that a luxury automaker can fully compete without a small vehicle in its lineup, and almost every major marque has entered the premium small-car segment in recent years – including Ford’s
Lincoln
brand with the introduction of the 2015 Lincoln MKC
crossover.
One notable omission from this list, however, is Volvo,
which finds itself with an entire lineup of mid-size
sedans,
wagons
andcrossovers.
According to a recent report, that could be changing, as Volvo finally seems ready to bring the V40
to the U.S, but before you get your hopes up about buying the compact
station wagon anytime soon, it likely won’t happen until the car’s next generation. Volvo’s product life cycles tend to run a little longer than most luxury automakers, so following the introduction of the current 2013 Volvo V40
in 2012, it isn’t likely the next-gen model will be ready until closer to the end of this decade. Looking to the Chinese
market, Volvo’s marketing chief Alain Visser said that an extended-wheelbase V40 is also on the table if that market shows strong enough demand.
Before the next-gen V40 does arrive, Volvo will be launching a hybrid
version of the car to bolster the average fuel economy of its fleet. The hybrid will use a gasoline engine (rather than diesel), and Visser suggested that this car could eventually be developed for markets outside of Europe by saying that gasoline is the global focus and that’s where Volvo wants to play.
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