Volvo announced its big push towards a fully-electric future this week. While its C40 Recharge looks stunning, fans of Volvo’s sedans and wagons have some bad news inbound. Volvo is considering cutting some sedans and wagons from its lineup.
Wagons and sedans struggle in the marketplace today as crossovers and SUVs continue their world domination. It’s not too surprising as car buyers love big vehicles and the automakers love making money off of them. Enthusiasts who love wagons and sedans found solace in Volvo’s range of cars. However, times are changing and even Volvo’s CEO thinks the company needs to shed some sedans and wagons, Autocar reports.
Volvo CEO, Håkan Samuelsson, said that buyers can expect high-riding vehicles with a high seating position. Why? Because Volvo’s buyers love sitting up high.
As for wagons and sedans? Samuelsson got right to the point, from Autocar:
“Traditionally, we have had sedans [saloons], wagons [estates] and SUVs,” he said. “Now we sell around 75% SUVs, which means we need more SUVs. We now have the C40 Recharge, and we’re planning a smaller SUV below the 40-series.”
Given the percentage of SUVs that makes up Volvo’s sales, I can’t say I blame the marque for wanting more SUVs. Volvo has a long list of sedans and wagons that Samuelsson says the automaker needs less of:
“We need less variants of sedans and wagons; we have lots of wagons today, with the V60, V90, Cross Country, non-Cross County, 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.
“We need more SUV types of higher electric vehicles. That’s the way of working right now and what we have in our development pipeline.”
But while Samuelsson says Volvo needs fewer sedans and wagons, he also says the wagon isn’t dead just yet:
“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.”
It sounds like Volvo’s future may be like the present for many automakers. Frankly, I’m amazed Volvo’s wagons and sedans held on this long.
Volvo has a small electric SUV in the works that will ride on Geely’s Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) platform. This is the platform that will underpin a number of future electric SUVs, including one from Smart.
I don’t fear our SUV overlords. However, I do hope there will be some long roof wagon holdouts for the few of us that still enjoy our rides to be low and long.