Volvo EX30 EV SUV confirmed as critical to Swedish brand's future success, and the XC90 lives on!

A compact EV SUV, teased towards the end of Volvo’s recent livestream launch of its new EX90 SUV, has been confirmed for production by the company’s CEO, Jim Rowan.

Speaking with Automotive News Europe Mr Rowan said the city-sized, more affordable, EX30 will play “a big part” in Volvo achieving its ambition of growing global sales by more than 70 per cent to 1.2 million units by 2025.

Designed to lower the cost of entry to a Volvo EV, and appeal to a broader, younger customer pool, Mr Rowan said the EX30 will be offered with different battery sizes to allow buyers to choose the range that suits their needs and budget.

It will also be offered via the ‘Care by Volvo’ subscription program (with a three-month minimum commitment), to again help lower the cost-of-entry and entice people into the car.

Care by Volvo rolls various ownership costs including insurance and roadside assistance into a single monthly payment, something Mr Rowan is confident will appeal to a new crop of Gen Z buyers. 

No surprise, the EX30 will be produced in China, where Volvo already has three plants under the umbrella of parent company Geely. And it’s likely to be underpinned by Volvo’s SPA2 dedicated EV platform also used in the EX90.

When asked to comment on Volvo’s prior commitment to achieve pricing parity between combustion and electric models by 2025, Mr Rowan cited the war in Ukraine as an unforeseen impediment.

“[The war] pushed up a lot of raw material prices. By and large, most of those prices are now back to where they were, other than lithium, which has remained doggedly high. That is pushing up the price of BEVs. 

“But I still think we are very much on track for price parity, because prices will come down pretty quickly when supply starts to meet demand again,” he said.

At the same time Mr Rowan confirmed continued development and production of the XC90 SUV, despite the arrival of the fully electric EX90 flagship.

“It [the XC90] will continue to be a great car for us, especially since we have added the extended range version of the plug-in hybrid variant.

Volvo has targeted 2030 as its date for a full shift to EVs globally.

“That gives you the option to have more electric range while still having the added level of certainty that comes with the gasoline engine. So, the XC90 will stay in the range for a while. 

“The combustion-engined SUV still makes sense in certain markets where the charging infrastructure is not ready yet,” he said.

Volvo has targeted 2030 as its date for a full shift to EVs globally, but as we reported recently, the company’s Australian subsidiary is ahead of the curve, nominating 2026 as the year it will be EV-only locally.

Volvo in Australia is almost certain to break through the 10,000-unit sales barrier in 2022, reflecting a steady rise in the brand’s popularity locally thanks to new electrified models, particularly the XC40.

Refreshed earlier this year and now offering combustion, plug-in hybrid and pure electric models, at the end of November its sales were up 28 per cent year-on-year.