Volvo confirms V40 Cross Country for Oz

THE Volvo V40 Cross Country – a high-riding, ruggedised crossover version of the V40 small hatch that launched in Australia this week – has been confirmed for Australian launch and is expected to arrive in the third quarter of this year.

Also due to hit Australian showrooms by the end of this year is a significant update to the S60 sedan, V60 wagon and XC60 SUV that will be revealed at the Geneva motor show next month.

Volvo is not yet ready to talk about the nature of its upgrades to the S60, V60 and XC60 line-up but Volvo Cars Australia (VCA) managing director Matt Braid assured GoAuto that is is far more than a facelift, describing the changes as “the most significant model upgrade in the history of Volvo”.

Mr Braid told GoAuto he expected the V40 Cross Country to be priced at a premium over the V40 hatch, which starts from $34,990 plus on-road costs, citing the BMW X1 (from $46,900) as a key competitor in price and execution.

Front-drive and all-wheel-drive variants are promised but whether the Cross Country will reflect the standard V40 variant mix is still undecided, and VCA is still awaiting confirmation of which driveline combinations will be available to this market.

Mr Braid anticipated a small number of V40 Cross Country variants as it is a niche model and enters a “bit of an unknown segment” for VCA.

But he agreed that the car could become a surprise hit, given the success of the conceptually similar but less premium Subaru XV that is priced from $28,490.

He said the Cross Country’s price premium over the V40 would depend on the additional specification and hardware fitted to give the Cross country a bit more off-road ability than the low-slung hatch.

Revealed at the Paris motor show last September, the V40 Cross Country has a ride height pumped up by 40mm over the standard hatch and typical crossover styling cues like black lower body cladding and silver scuff plates.

Volvo expects to sell 17,000 V40 Cross Countrys world-wide per year, with half going to Europe and 30 per cent going to China.

Globally the V40 Cross Country is available with the same driveline and specification mix as the V40.

Australian V40 buyers have the choice of two diesel and two petrol engines across three trim levels, starting with the 1.6-litre four-cylinder D3 turbo-diesel that sips just 4.2 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres and topping out with the 2.5-litre five-cylinder T5 R-Design turbo-petrol that can hit 100km/h from rest in just 6.1 seconds.

Mr Braid said other projects are underway for potential launch this year but would not be drawn on what these were.

GoAuto understands that more work with Volvo tuning arm Polestar is taking place in order to help Volvo shed its pipe and slippers image in Australia.