Volvo rules out cars smaller than V40

Volvo has ruled out making any cars smaller than the V40 family hatch, and will concentrate on larger hatchbacks, estate and SUVs.

Volvo's president and CEO, Hakan Samuelsson, told What Car? that the company does not intend to make a supermini. This also rules out a replacement for the now-discontinued C30 hatchback.

However, Volvo does intend to replace the V40 at the end of its life, even though it does not fit onto the company's new Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) platform. 

'There are no plans to make anything under the 40 series,' Mr Samuelsson said. 'That will need replacing at one point but that will come after the SPA series.'

The SPA series underpins all models from the V60 up to the XC90, but the V40 requires its own, smaller platform.

'The next V40 will be on the CMA underpinnings that we are developing at the moment. It is an all-new small vehicle architecture,' said Mr Samuelsson.

The new XC90 is the first model on the SPA platform, and is due on sale in 2014. Volvo intends to replace all of the other models in its range within 'two to three years' from the arrival of the XC90.