Big Volvo sedans and wagons to be sacrificed in SUV push

Volvo has confirmed it plans to expand its SUV offering while slashing traditional big sedans and wagons from its range in the transition to full pure-electric power by 2030.

Justifying the large sedan and wagon cull, Volvo boss Hakan Samuelsson said SUVs offered packaging benefits over battery-powered sedans but, ultimately, customer demand was the key driving factor behind focusing on high-riding vehicles.

“Now we sell around 75 per cent SUVs, which means we need more SUVs. We now have the C40 Recharge, and we’re planning a smaller SUV below the 40-series, " said Samuelsson, adding:

“We need less variants of sedans and wagons; we have lots of wagons today, with the V60, V90, Cross Country, non-Cross Country, and a lot of saloons big and small, long and extra-long. We need to move from wagons and sedans; we will still have them in future, but probably not as many," explained the Volvo CEO.

Next up is said to be the XC20 SUV, which could be renamed the 'C20' - in line with the C40 unveiled as part of the presentation overnight.

Set to be a size smaller than XC40 and C40, Volvo's smallest battery-powered SUV will sit on Geely's all-new SEA architecture that's been created for EVs.

According to an image displayed during the press conference, Volvo plans to offer up to seven EVs by 2025, to ensure that half of all the vehicles it sells are battery-powered by 2025.

Despite sedans and wagons falling out of favour with the Swedish car-maker, Samuelsson said Volvo won't completely abandon them, hinting that in the future they will be "developed and streamlined".

“A practical, lower car could also be really interesting, especially as we go electric and need lower air resistance. Definitely don’t count out the wagon,” said Volvo's boss.