CMA. The simultaneous development of SPA and CMA has formed the cornerstone of Volvo’s product renewal and growth strategy, which involves the replacement of every car in its line-up over the next four years and an annual sales volume of up 800,000 cars. This process started with the launch of the XC90 (earlier post) and will continue shortly with the launch of the new S90 premium sedan.

CMA allows Volvo Cars to offer customers of compact cars the same type of premium engineering benefits as owners of its larger cars built on SPA. Shared technology between SPA and CMA will include powertrains (both conventional and new plug-in hybrid variants) and the infotainment, climate and data network and safety systems.

CMA will also change the way Volvo Cars builds its products in the future by allowing a wide range of cars, powertrains, electrical systems and technologies of varying complexity to be fitted on the same architecture, generating significant economies of scale and a more streamlined manufacturing process.

Volvo Cars designed CMA from the outset to embrace electrification—offering a new Twin Engine plug-in hybrid variant designed especially for the new architecture.

Volvo Cars expects to significantly increase its global volumes with the coming range of CMA-based cars.

T5 Twin Engine plug-in hybrid powertrain on CMA platform. Click to enlarge.

Electrification. As part of its new electrification strategy, the company said it expects electrified vehicles to account for up to 10% of total car sales in the medium term.

The first element of the new electrification strategy involves the introduction of plug-in hybrid versions of its 90 series and 60 series larger cars, based on the company’s new Scalable Product Architecture. This process has already begun with the launch of the T8 Twin Engine All-Wheel Drive plug-in hybrid version of its new XC90 SUV and will continue with plug-in hybrid versions of the new S90 premium sedan and other forthcoming models.

Volvo Cars will also broaden the range of plug-in hybrid cars it offers with the introduction of a new front-wheel drive Twin Engine variant.

The Swedish car maker will further deepen its product offering with the introduction of an entirely new range of smaller 40 series cars based on the new Compact Modular Architecture (CMA), which, like SPA, has been designed from the outset for electrification.

Lastly, Volvo Cars has confirmed that it will build an all-electric car for sale by 2019. Further details of this planned model will be released at a later date.

Volvo Cars believes that plug-in hybrid cars offer customers the best combination of efficiency, range and convenience.

For example, Volvo Cars’ XC90 T8 Twin Engine is one of the cleanest and most powerful 7-seater SUV on the market, delivering over 407 horsepower equivalent and just 49 g/km CO₂, plus a pure electric range of 43 km (27 miles), 2.1 l/100 km (112 mpg US) in fuel economy and reaching 100 km/h in just 5.6 seconds.

This combination of power, efficiency and environmental friendliness will be the hallmarks of all of Volvo Cars’ forthcoming electrified models, the company said.

We have learned a lot about how people use cars with electrification thanks to our current product offer. Our research has shown that people are driving our Twin Engine cars in electric mode around 50% of the time, meaning our plug-in hybrids already offer a real alternative to conventional powertrain systems.

With around 40 years of experience in the field of electrification, Volvo Cars has learned a lot about battery management along the way, delivering the best range per kilowatt hour in the industry. We have come to a point where the cost versus benefit calculation for electrification is now almost positive. Battery technology has improved, costs are going down, and public acceptance of electrification is no longer a question.

—Dr. Peter Mertens, Senior Vice President for Research and Development