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Volvo V40 kills off S40 and V50

VOLVO S40
By Anthony Crawford |
FIND DEALS

The recent arrival of the all-new Volvo V40 hatch has meant sudden death to the struggling S40 and V50 models.

Volvo wound up production of both the S40 and V50 in May 2012 in preparation the V40 landing on showroom floors.

While the introduction of the V40’s rapidly expanding model range effectively rendered the S40 and V50 models obsolete in the current Volvo line-up, the V60 sportwagon is here to stay.

Volvo unveiled two additional V40 model variants at this week’s Paris Motor Show: the V40 Cross Country and the V40 R-Design.

The new V40 Cross Country rides 40mm higher than the standard V40, while the V40 R-Design is a more powerful and dynamically enhanced version.

There’s a high-performance V40 in the pipeline, too, that will sit above the R-Design model. Volvo Australia will introduce the Polestar version as soon as possible. The additional performance will be via software downloads only, but the timing is still unknown.

The expanded Volvo V40 range also spells the end to on-going speculation of an XC40 model by ruling out such a vehicle in the wake of high-riding V40 Cross Country.

Volvo’s technical director on V40, Sven Gunnar Johansson and and V40 project manager, Sanna Johnsson told CarAdvice that they expect lifecycle of V40 will be at least seven years including a major midlife update.


 

  • MisterZed

    Good riddance – the previous S40 was a joke, the most bland and uninspiring car you could buy for 40 grand.

    • Peter

      hmmm, but for a bit over $50K you could get the T5 which is quick, handles extremely well,  short (very easy to park), and very safe, also looks pretty good with a bit of badge value.  They are a much better drive than the c30, without the stupidly long doors.  But I’m biased, my missus had one from when they came out (then about $60K), then when it came time to update after looking at alternatives (including cars up to about $75K), all she wanted was another s40T5 (then about $55K).  But the interior is tired compared to the v40, that’s for sure, and the NA model wasnt anywhere near as much fun to drive.

      • MisterZed

        Well, actually since last year you can get the T5 auto for $39,990, as they discontinued the base model 2.4L.

  • Peter

    That’d be real good value, though you’d w2ant to make sure that it is the 5 cyl T5 rather than the 4 cyl turbo which for some mental reason they call a T5 (so the T5 is the s60 is actually a T4).  I saw some demos of the T5 at about $40,000 which would have been great buying, especially with the 1.9% finance

    • MisterZed

      It’s the 5-cyl T5 – same engine option always available in the S40 except now they’ve made it the base engine.

  • AutoMoto

    The Volvo V40 will come with 1.6 84 and 110kW  and 2.0 130kW diesel and 1.6 110 and 132kW and 2.5 187kW petrol.  Source: Volvo Sweden

    • tonyW

      Yes, but we are unlikely to see all of these in Australia. Based on past history, I can see one diesel and two petrol – all of them automatics.

  • Ding

    Know someone who has a v50 T5 AWD. Power outputs were the same as a WRX of that age, great engine sound, grippy handling and a pretty good all rounder. It’s a shame that Volvo didn’t replace it with a small wagon under the lardy v60 and even more so that they’re phasing out the t5 mill for Ford’s ecoboost engine

    • MisterZed

      How are Volvo able to still use Ford engines? 

      • tonyW

        From previous agreements before Ford off-loaded Volvo. The Ford engines are being phased out and are due to be replaced with a family of new Volvo 4-cylinder engines from 2013/14. Ding – they haven’t quite phased out the T5 yet. It is continuing in this new V40 and is still used in C30s (while the C30 itself still remains), the C70 and also as the “T5″ engine in US-spec S60s.

    • tonyW

      The AWD S40 and V50 T5s available for a couple of years in Australia were very good cars and real sleepers. The problem was the pricing – over $60k OTR for the V50 T5 AWD. This is the lesson that Volvo Australia must learn from what happened to the sales of the S40/V50 when they come to the pricing of this new V40. It must start well below $40k for entry level models with the top T5 being less than $50k.

      • Ly61

        It would certainly be good for customers but I don’t think Volvo needs to compete with the Korean or the lower-tier Japanese cars though.