Volvo XC30 an open secret

The XC30 program is not confirmed yet, but it is an open secret as the Swedish carmaker cashes in on quality SUVs as quickly as any brand in the car business.  Volvo will begin sales of its new pace-maker, the mid-sized C60 sedan, in the second half of this year and the C30-based XC30 is likely to be the next model in its lineup.

"Of course we are looking at a smaller car. And that is an interesting one. And we see an extension in the XC range," says Lex Kerssemakers, president of Volvo Cars Overseas corporation, during a rapid-fire visit to Australia.  "I don't think the world is looking for bigger cars, the world is looking for smaller cars. And that's all I'm saying.

"What's happening in 2012, we'll talk about it next year. You have to keep the focus. We are full. That's all we can handle."  Kerssemakers might be restricting his insight to Carsguide on future models, but there is a vast amount happening at Volvo as the company prepares for its sale out of Ford ownership and into the Chinese brand Geely before the end of 2010.

The long-term Volvo executive admits there will be lots of changes but insists the company will retain its Swedish heritage, its safety focus and a new drive towards distinctive design. It will keep its current links to Ford - on parts and technology supply - for the foreseeable future and is still aiming to grow annual sales to more than 400,000 cars a year.

"We share platforms and share engines (with Ford). You don't just drop that."  He says the biggest recent change at Volvo came with the C30, and this will continue with the C60 and V60 as practicality - things like the ability to carry a fridge in a Volvo wagon - are overtaken by design.

"In the late '90s we realised, very much, that if we wanted to go beyond where we had been we had to focus much more on design. We had to prove you could have a safe, functional car that was not boring.

"If we wanted to change the brand we needed to be outspoken. You can't always make a nice looking car if you have to put a fridge in it," he says.  Kerssemakers has set a high target in Australia and believes Volvo can push to more than 5000 sales a year, up from 4652 in 2009 and its all- time high as an importer in the 4800 range.

"We've got to be looking very close to 7000 cars. We have to push now.   We are energetic and we have the right cars. If we don't do it now we never will."