The upcoming Volvo V40 and XC40 will feature a plug-in hybrid version

The vice president of Volvo and head of its product strategies, Lex Kerssemakers, gave more details at the Paris Motor Show about the new modular architecture for the C-segment (CMA). Although the priority right now is the SPA, from which the new generations of the larger models in the range will derive such as the XC90, the launch of the CMA is also crucial at this new stage for Volvo, and the manufacturer does not plan for it to be delayed beyond 2016.

The next generation of the V40 will debut it that same year. Two years later the XC40 will arrive, the Swedish brand’s first C-segment SUV, which will compete against the Audi Q3 or the BMW X1, among other potential rivals. Like the V60 and the new XC90, both models will also feature their respective plug-in hybrid versions.

The CMA architecture is being developed jointly by engineers from Volvo and those from Geely, the company’s current owner. This platform is so flexible that, as Kerssemakers pointed out, it will allow the targets set by both parties to be achieved. The R&D costs of the CMA and the SPA are very high, but Volvo is confident it can amortise them by using them across the two future generations of products.

Kerssemakers also guaranteed in Paris that a new generation of the S60 Polestar based on the SPA platform will be launched. It will be powered by a four-cylinder engine from the renewed Drive-E family, and its suspension settings will be simpler to carry out than on the current version of the performance saloon. However, its market introduction will not take place until three years from now.

Source | CarAdvice (CMA platform and S60 Polestar)