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US debut for Volvo compact crossover three years away

Volvo expects finally to compete in the booming compact crossover segment in the US about three years from now, according to Automotive News. The 40 Series model, presumably called the XC40, would use the company’s upcoming Compact Modular Architecture platform (pictured above).

Volvo detailed CMA last year as the smaller version of its Scalable Product Architecture, which underpins the 90 Series models and future 60 Series redesigns. Like the larger variant, CMA can stretch to fit multiple vehicles, and it can also share powertrains, infotainment, safety systems, and other tech with SPA-based vehicles. The Swedish brand plans to launch the first vehicle with it in 2017.

There have been contradictory rumors about when the XC40 might launch in the US. Volvo senior vice president Alan Visser said in 2015 that the V40 wagon would arrive here in 2017, and the crossover would go on sale about a year later. However, another report claimed that Volvo execs changed their minds. The CUV would come in early 2018, and the wagon would arrive afterward.

Peter Mertens, Volvo’s research and development senior vice president, confirms both the next S40 sedan and V40 wagon to go on sale in the US, too. “I think it was a mistake not having the V40, not being prepared for the US it was a mistake, but it was in that time when the company was in extreme trouble,” he told Automotive News. Expect plug-in hybrids to play a major role in the future model lineup, too, because Volvo is reportedly pleasantly surprised that 20 percent of XC90 sales here are the T8 PHEV version.

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