Volvo Prepares New Modular Platform and In-House Engines

Volvo prepares to launch a modular platform and a new range of in-house engines.

The first engine Volvo prepares is a four-cylinder one, which will be released by the end of this year and the first vehicle to use the automaker’s scalable platform architecture (SPA) will be the all-new XC90 premium large SUV, which will hit the market in 2014. The next models will be the V70 and S80, which will be renamed V90 and S90 when they will reach showrooms.

Even if Ford no longer owns Volvo and even if the SPA is online, the Swedish automaker will still use Ford’s platform for the first-generation V40, which made its debut in 2012. This week Volvo announced that the second-generation V40 will use a new modular compact platform, which is to be developed with Chinese partner Geely at the new R&D center in Gothenburg.

“Modularity means independence, but also the opposite. If you are independent you have to try to find economy of scale another way,” said Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson.

The new engines Volvo prepares will have maximum four cylinders, and the gasoline and diesel units will share up to 40% of parts, with each cylinder having a cubic capacity of under 500cc. All engines will be turbocharged and their power will vary from 140 hp to 280 hp for the gasoline ones and from 120 hp to 230 hp for the diesels.