Good news: Volvo is working on new estate cars after all
Currently, to the disappointment of many enthusiasts and users of practical cars, you can hardly buy a new estate car from Volvo anymore. After the disappearance of the V90, only the (mild and plug-in) hybrid V60 is still in production, but car buyers can mainly go for SUV models such as the EX30, XC90 and the recently introduced EX60. But that will soon change, if Volvo executive Michael Fleiss is to be believed.
Fleiss is responsible for strategy and product offerings within Volvo and confirms to AutoRAI.nl that the Scandinavian car brand is currently working on a new station wagon. This will most likely be a relatively large model that uses the same platform architecture and electric technology of the new EX60. So count on a wide range of more than 800 kilometers, lightning-fast charging capabilities and power of nearly 700 hp in the most powerful versions. It is still unclear what name the car will get, but a combination of letters and numbers such as EV60 is the obvious choice.
‘Estates scrapping was necessity’
Fleiss indicates that he himself is a fan of ‘traditional’ estate cars and agrees that such a model fits well with the Volvo brand. After all, back in the 1950s Volvo scored with models such as the Duett and the Amazon Combi, but more modern ‘Estates’ such as the 240, 740, 940, 850 and V70 also became absolute sales hits. “Therefore, it makes sense for such a model to return. Only we had other priorities within Volvo in recent years, which forced us to remove the estate cars from the delivery range.”
One of those priorities was the rapid move to all-electric models, which Volvo deployed assiduously just a few years ago. Since then, the brand has partially reversed that strategy, because customers still demand models with combustion engines. But because the development of those electric vehicles (EVs ) costs an enormous amount of money, the concern decided to focus on models that are most in demand worldwide. Those are SUVs, so Volvo models such as the EX90, EX30 and EX60 were given priority, and the station wagons disappeared into the fridge. “It also didn’t help that the software in the new models in particular was also a big headache. But we have now solved those problems, so it’s time for the next step.”
BMW i5 Touring as an example
So that next step is an “old-fashioned” Volvo estate car, albeit now equipped with the latest technology. According to Fleiss, several competitors are showing that there is now a fine market for electric estate cars, by which he refers in particular to the success of the BMW i5 Touring and the Audi A6 Avant e-tron, among others. However, models such as the Volkswagen ID.7 Tourer, the NIO ET5 Touring, the Peugeot e-308 SW and the BYD Seal 6 Touring also show that modern car buyers are certainly open to a lower-end but practical station wagon.
When we will find the Volvo EV60 – note that is at most the “working title” we are sticking on the model for now – in Dutch Volvo showrooms, Fleiss is not yet willing to reveal to AutoRAI.nl. “Our colleagues in the development teams did their utmost to launch the EX60 and now they can focus on the next project. I can’t say much more about it at the moment, but you are right in saying that Volvo will not leave the estate car segment for good.”
‘Yes electric, no flagship EV60 R’
Finally, we asked Fleiss if we can secretly look forward again to a wacky estate car like the flagship 850 T-5R Estate of the 1990s. That sporty-tinged, brightly colored version of the 850 stretched Volvo’s boundaries and showed that the so-safe, serious brand also had a surprising and fun edge. Meanwhile, the model did wonders for the brand’s image. Michael Fleiss laughs, but tempers expectations: “Whether a modern Volvo is still ‘fun’ …? Have you driven one of our electric models recently? Then you know how much fun they drive! A modern Volvo doesn’t need bright colors, it convinces with safety, silence and world-class infotainment and software technology thanks to Google Gemini. That’s what counts these days.”
