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Volvo Cars, the premium car maker, today unveiled two new concept cars that move the Swedish brand in an audacious new direction and mark the official launch of its global small-car strategy.

Today’s newly revealed 40 series concept models demonstrate for the first time how Volvo plans to expand into the large and lucrative global market for premium small cars with a range of vehicles that combine bold exterior and interior design with industry-leading connectivity, electrification and autonomous drive technologies.

The new concept cars will be the first built around Volvo’s new Compact Modular Architecture (CMA), which has been specially created for smaller cars and which has liberated the company’s designers and engineers to explore bold and daring new directions.

“Each member of our product family has its own distinct character, just like the members of a real family. CMA has helped us to capture something special, something youthful in our new concept cars. They have an energy, a disruptive and engaging urban character that makes them stand out among the crowd. This is the flavour of small Volvos to come,” said Thomas Ingenlath, Senior Vice President, Design, at Volvo Car Group.

Volvo’s small-car strategy is an essential element in its ongoing global operational and financial transformation. The Swedish company is currently implementing an ambitious revitalisation plan that will reposition the brand to compete with its global premium competitors within the next four years.

Volvo’s new global small-car range will include a pure-battery electric vehicle as well as Twin Engine plug-in hybrid powertrain variants, in line with the company’s commitment to the electrification of its entire portfolio. Volvo plans to have sold a total of up to one million electrified cars by 2025 globally.

“By taking a modular approach to both vehicle architecture and powertrain development, we have succeeded in leap-frogging many of the players in the premium segment,” said Dr Peter Mertens, Senior Vice President, Research & Development. “Our new battery electric powertrain variant opens yet another exciting chapter in the unfolding Volvo story.”

On top of their daring exterior design and electrified powertrain options, the new cars will also offer a full range of innovative connectivity services, plus the world’s most advanced standard package of safety features and ground-breaking Scandinavian interior design.

“The new 40 series cars have the potential to improve our market penetration in an important growing segment,” said Håkan Samuelsson, President and Chief Executive of Volvo Cars. “An electric powertrain program, including both a new compact Twin Engine plug-in hybrid as well as a pure electric car, are central to the CMA architecture.” He added that the first new 40 series car is expected to go into production in 2017.

The announcement of Volvo’s new global small-car strategy comes on the back of a strong start to the year in terms of sales and profitability.

The company announced revenues for the first three months of the year rose 24 per cent year-on-year to SEK41.7bn, generating an operating profit of SEK3.1bn and an operating profit margin of 7.5 per cent. Global sales for the first quarter of 2016 increased 11.9 per cent to 120,591 cars. Volvo has a medium-term ambition to sell 800,000 cars a year, up from 503,000 in 2015.

The Volvo 850 was the car that changed everything – a front-wheel-drive Volvo with a five-cylinder transverse engine. It was the result of the Galaxy project, which got its name because it was aiming for the stars. The 850 series achieved great success in the field of motorsport, and was the first car from Volvo available with AWD.

The brand-new Volvo 850 GLT had its world premiere in the Stockholm Globe Arena on June 11 in 1991. The model was the result of one of Sweden's largest industrial investments and differed fundamentally from previous Volvo designs. It had front-wheel drive, a five-cylinder transverse engine and offered a whole new level of driving pleasure.

The new car was launched under the banner "A dynamic car with four world firsts". These new features were the transverse five-cylinder engine, the Delta-link rear axle designed in-house, the integrated side-impact protection system, SIPS, and the self-adjusting front seat belt.

Even though the design was reminiscent of the 700 series, the 850 was a completely new car. The work on developing the model began back in 1978. At a meeting held that year, it was decided that it was now time to think freely and aim for the stars. That's why the project was christened Galaxy.

Project Galaxy resulted in two model series – one Swedish and one Dutch. The underlying technology was developed jointly; after this the teams split up. The Dutch company Volvo Car B.V went on to develop what would become the 400 series, while Volvo Cars in Sweden developed the 850 series.

The first model to be presented was the 850 GLT, with its 20-valve naturally aspirated engine producing 170 hp. During the development phase, Volvo worked actively to make the 850 GLT a lively car that delivered great driving pleasure while achieving the correct intake and exhaust noise.

The next important 850 version was presented in February 1993 – the estate car. It boasted typical Volvo features such as the abruptly ending rear section for maximum load capacity. One new design feature, however, was the extended vertical tail lights that covered the entire D-post. During the development work, Chief Designer Jan Wilsgaard had a model on which the large tail lights could be removed and replaced for comparison. The estate version was subsequently awarded the prestigious Japanese distinction “1994 Good Design Grand Prize” as well as the Italian “Most beautiful estate”.

The 850 series was soon expanded with various engine options. The model that would achieve most attention was presented at the Geneva Motor Show in 1994. With its distinctive yellow colour, the T-5R really stood out like an exclamation mark on wheels. This special model was intended to be manufactured in a run of 2,500 cars. The turbocharged engine with intercooler produced 240 hp and 330 Nm of torque. The equipment on the car included special spoilers, a square exhaust pipe and 17” Titan alloy wheels. The yellow cars sold out in a couple of weeks, and so the same number of black cars were produced, finally followed by a run of 2,500 dark green T-5Rs.

1994 was also the year when Volvo returned to the racetrack – and did so in an extremely eye-catching way. When two 850s drove up to the starting line for the season premiere at the Thruxton track in southern England, they were the estate version! Competing with a “van” in Europe’s most prestigious standard car series, the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) attracted an enormous amount of attention. Volvo invested heavily alongside Tom Walkinshaw Racing, with the two cars being driven by the Swede Rickard Rydell and the Dutch driver Jan Lammers. In 1995, estate cars were practically made illegal by rule changes and Volvo switched to the saloon model. That season Rickard Rydell came in third place overall in the championship.

Right from the outset, the press called the Volvo 850 “the world’s safest car”, and in 1995 it introduced another world first in terms of safety. At this point, the Volvo 850 became the first mass-produced car to come with side-impact airbags.

The 850 AWD – the company's first four-wheel-drive car – was a pioneer for Volvo when it was launched in 1996. The 850 All Wheel Drive had four-wheel drive engaged at all times – a viscous coupling automatically distributed the power between the front and rear wheels. If one of the rear wheels started to spin, the electronic TRACS anti-spin system automatically distributed the power between the front wheels to the one with the best grip. The 850 AWD was powered by a newly developed engine with light pressure turbo boost producing 193 hp, and was a predecessor to Volvo's four-wheel-drive XC models.

1996 was the final year the 850 was in production. When the models underwent a major upgrade in 1997, the designations were changed to S70 for the saloon models and V70 for the estate version. A total of 1,360,522 cars were built in model versions originating from the 850 series. 

The new Volvo S90 is Volvo Cars’ entry ticket to the premium saloon club.

The S90 marks a giant step forward for Volvo Cars. The Swedish car maker is better known for its SUVs and estates, but with the launch of the S90, Volvo is clearly intent on shaking up the premium saloon segment with its distinctive executive class saloon.

Equipped with a host of new technologies, ranging from cutting-edge safety to cloud-based apps and services, the S90 is further proof of the Swedish brand’s continuing transformation.

“With the launch of the XC90, we made a clear statement of intent. We are now clearly and firmly in the game. With $11 USD billion of investment over the past five years, we have not only reimagined what Volvo Cars can be – we are now delivering on our promise of a resurgent and relevant Volvo Cars brand,” said Håkan Samuelsson, President & CEO, Volvo Car Group.

The new Volvo S90 comes equipped with an advanced semi-autonomous drive feature, Pilot Assist. The system gives gentle steering inputs to keep the car properly aligned within lane markings up to motorway speeds of around 130 km/h and no longer needs to follow another car. Pilot Assist is another step towards full autonomous drive – a key innovation area for Volvo.

The S90 will also come with a clean and powerful T8 Twin Engine plug-in hybrid powertrain and one of the most luxuriously appointed interiors and connected infotainment systems in the large saloon segment.

“Our idea was to bring something entirely new to this rather conservative segment and deliver a visual expression that exudes leadership and confidence on the exterior. On the inside, we have taken the S90 to the next level, delivering a high-end luxury experience that promises comfort and control,” said Thomas Ingenlath, Senior Vice President Design at Volvo Car Group.

The S90 also introduces a world-first function to City Safety – large animal detection – a system capable of detecting large animals such as elk, horses or moose, night or day. The technology offers an intuitive warning and brake support to help avoid a collision. The S90 has also benefitted from Volvo Cars’ recent investment in a highly advanced chassis simulator.

“The S90 has taken a big stride forwards in terms of driving dynamics, performance and ride. We have completely redesigned the Volvo driving experience from the ground up to deliver a sense of precision, engaging control and comfort,” said Dr Peter Mertens, Senior Vice President, Research & Development at Volvo Car Group.

The S90 is set to be publically unveiled at the NAIAS in Detroit.