Volvo has revealed that it will be debuting its second fully-electric car later this year. The still-unnamed model is tipped to be a small, compact crossover model, and is set to be launched in March 2021.
The Swedish carmaker’s second EV will be built on the CMA modular platform, which is developed in conjunction with Geely and is currently in use on the Volvo XC40, Polestar 2, Geely Xingrui (Preface), and several Lynk & Co models.
Volvo confirmed the second EV in a statement announcing its plans to triple EV production at its Ghent plant in Belgium by 2022, which translate roughly to 60% of the plant’s total production capacity. The move is in line with the carmaker’s commitment to make EVs half of its total sales worldwide by 2025, and becoming a fully-electric manufacturer by 2040.
The upcoming EV will also be produced at the Ghent plant, alongside the Volvo XC40 Recharge – the manufacturer’s only EV currently, also based on the CMA platform – and the Volvo XC40 plug-in hybrid. According to a report by Autocar UK, Volvo’s second EV will take the form of a crossover coupe, making it a sportier alternative to the XC40.
The publication also claims that a smaller model, supposedly named the XC20, is on the way – although this model will be based on the Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) platform, the “world’s first open-source architecture” co-developed with Geely that will underpin the Lynk & Co Zero.
“Our future is electric and customers clearly like what they see from our Recharge cars,” said Volvo Cars head of global industrial operations and quality, Javier Varela. “As we continue to electrify our line-up and boost our electric production capacity, Ghent is a real trailblazer for our global manufacturing network.”
The capacity ramp-up comes as Volvo posted their 2020 annual sales performance, which saw 661,713 vehicles sold worldwide – a 6.2% decline year-on-year. However, the carmaker says that demand for its Recharge fully-electric models have more than doubled in 2020, as compared to the previous year.
The drop in sales is undoubtedly attributed to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, however a strong second-half performance with a 7.4% increase over 2019’s levels helped offset most of the 21% drop in the first half of 2020.
