Volvo has released the first photographs of its all-new compact saloon, the Volvo S40, ahead of its world premiere at the Frankfurt motor show in September, and UK debut at the Scottish motor show in November.

Fun and Function
With obvious design cues from Volvo's larger S60 and S80 saloon models, the new Volvo S40 takes a confident step forward with a modern interior design similar to the recent VCC concept car, class-leading ride, handling and safety features, together with a wide range of four and five-cylinder engines.

"With the new Volvo S40, we offer our customers large car benefits in a premium, compact format. This, combined with an exciting design and exceptional road manners, makes the new Volvo S40 a highly potent challenger in this emerging premium compact segment," says Volvo Cars President and CEO Hans-Olov Olsson.

Desirable
Expanding the brand appeal and increasing desirability is an important part of Volvo Cars' strategy, so it is important that this model attracts younger buyers.

"We want to attract people into the Volvo family as early as possible, and the new Volvo S40 will definitely appeal to younger customers," comments Hans-Olov Olsson.

Unique Design
From the outside, the new Volvo S40 is unmistakably a Volvo with its strong, stylish design features.

The interior is quite a revolution, with an ultra-slim centre console that appears to be free-floating - the first of its kind in the automotive world - creating extra storage space behind it, and an aura of Scandinavian style, exclusivity and space.

"The centre console is a unique design icon for the new Volvo S40," says Henrik Otto, Design Director at Volvo Cars.

"We intend to pursue our position as innovators in the car design world, not looking at what our competitors are doing - but, more valuably, what they're not doing," continues Henrik Otto.

Class-Leading Safety
In the new Volvo S40, Volvo continues its groundbreaking use of high-tensile steel. In the new frontal structure, four different grades of steel are used in a high-tech interplay to provide maximum safety for the car's occupants.

"Naturally, our goal is that the new Volvo S40 should be the safest car in its class, offering precisely the same safety levels as our larger models but within more compact dimensions," says Hans-Olov Olsson.

Performance
Class-leading ride and handling combine with a choice of five-cylinder petrol engines, with a 220 bhp T5 model topping the range, as well as a four-cylinder, 136 bhp turbo diesel. Other, smaller four-cylinder petrol engines will join the range during 2004.

Production and Investment
The new Volvo S40 will be built at the Volvo Cars factory in Ghent, Belgium, which has been redesigned at a cost of 340 million Euros. Production starts in late 2003, with the first models expected in UK showrooms in late February 2004. Meanwhile, the current S40 continues in production at Born in the Netherlands until mid-2004 to provide a full range of small Volvo saloons until the full new Volvo S40 range is available.

The sales target for new Volvo S40 in 2004 is 70,000 cars globally. The USA is expected to be the largest single market with at least 20,000 cars per annum, followed by the UK with approximately 8,000 cars a year.

The Future
The all-new Volvo S40 is the first in a new range of compact models developed by Volvo sharing common technology. Next in line is the Volvo V50, a premium, compact sportswagon that will follow in spring 2004.

The Car Enthusiast will be travelling to the 2003 Frankfurt Show in September so look out for our review linked from the main Motor Shows page.

Volvo news release - 26 Aug 2003