High-tech focus for Volvo's 'plug-and-play' small-car platform

Volvo has announced the first car to be built on its Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) platforms will arrive in global markets from 2017.

Among the first cars – if not the first – on the new platform will likely be Volvo's XC40 small SUV.

CMA is a big story for the Chinese-owned Swedish brand, which aims to shift its entire model line-up to either the small-car platform or the Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) as little as four years from now. This will cut development time and manufacturing costs, as well as enabling sophisticated new technology like autonomous driving and hybrid-drive systems or full battery-electric vehicles. Model life cycles are likely to shrink and there are additional gains to be had, including weight reduction and crash safety, by reducing the number of model platforms to two modular types.

Volvo anticipates that by 2020 no one will be dying behind the wheel of a Volvo – an aim that will be made much easier to achieve with the sort of technology different Volvo models will be able to share on their common platforms. And the advanced features developed for the SPA models can trickle down that much faster to vehicles built on the CMA platform.

"The flexibility of CMA liberates Volvo's engineers and designers, allowing them to devise and introduce a wide range of new and alluring features whilst at the same time improving drivability, offering world-class safety features and connected car technologies," said Kevin McCann, Volvo Australia MD.

"We are in a terrific position with CMA. We have developed this new architecture as a plug and play component. This means that on Volvo's next generation of compact cars you will benefit from the advanced technologies available on our XC90 today," McCann was quoted saying in a press release issued earlier today.

The two platforms – the SPA platform is already out in the marketplace under the XC90 and will soon be revisited in the upcoming S90 – are expected to be the foundation on which Volvo will build its sales to 800,000 cars a year.

"CMA is a key part of the continued growth strategy of the Volvo Cars brand," said Oliver Peagam, Marketing Director for Volvo Australia.

"Apart from offering all the benefits and features of a larger premium car, such as the industry-leading safety, powertrain and infotainment technologies, CMA will deliver a true and distinctive Volvo driving and ownership experience setting it apart from others in this growing premium segment."