The production start-up for the new V40 also means the end of the line for the Volvo S40 and V50 at the firm’s Ghent plant in Belgium.
CFMA, Volvo Cars’ Chinese joint venture with Changan Ford Mazda, had also built the S40 but production at the plant in Chongqing ceased in 2011 after five years of production. The S80L, still made by CFMA, is thus Volvo’s only China-built model.
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The S40 and V50 entered production at Ghent in 2003, with the C30 added at the plant in 2006. Confirming the end of S40 and V50 production, Volvo spokesman Stefan Elfstrom told just-auto that the C30 would “continue to be built until further notice”.
Volvo Cars has another product on the way for Ghent: the XC40. If images leaked onto the web from a recent brochure shoot prove to be authentic, this modified V40 sits higher and features plastic cladding on the wheelarches. It would be Volvo’s response to the Audi Q3 and BMW X1. The XC40 should be revealed at the Paris motor show in September. Unlike the V40, it is likely to be sold in the US, traditionally Volvo’s largest market.
Of the 90,000 V40s due to be produced annually at Ghent, 85% are expected to be sold in Europe, Volvo stated in February 2012. Production commenced in May.
Author: Glenn Brooks
