Volvo V40 to become brand's best-seller

The Volvo V40 will become the biggest-selling model in the Volvo cars range within two years and, when launched next year, will finally answer two decades of demands from dealers.

Volvo has not had a Volkswagen Golf-rivaling five-door hatchback in its model range since the Volvo 440 model of the 1990s, despite calls from retailers. The new V40’s arrival is thus a defining car for the brand.

“The V40 will be THE car people assume stands for Volvo,” said acting Volvo UK Managing Director Nick Connor. It will take the brand straight into the family hatchback heartland, as a more upmarket alternative to the Ford Focus.

“We see it as a strong alternative to the Honda Civic,” said Connor. “Honda customers, we believe, associate closely with Volvo values.”

The V40 is the first example of a Volvo launched under the ‘Designed Around You’ philosophy, which makes customer clarity top priority.

It’s arrival will help bring clarity to a range of Volvo family cars that even the brand itself admits have been confusing. “Previously, we have had C30, S40 and V50 – all variants of the same car,” said Connor. “The V40 replaces the latter two and will be a much stronger statement in the market.”

Volvo has also simplified its previously confusing trim and engine range, work that continues with the V40. “We haven’t made it easy for ourselves in the past: if the choice is so vast for customers, they can’t get their head around it and it becomes meaningless.”

“The V40 will show a smarter way of doing things.”

The V40 will go on sale here in Australia sometime in 2013.