Volvo is plotting a flagship three-row hybrid SUV to sit above the XC90 to cater to rising demand for ‘F-segment’ models in the US and China.
At just over five metres long, the XC90 is already one of the largest hybrid SUVs on sale in Europe, but Volvo CEO Håkan Samuelsson has confirmed that “bigger SUVs are something we’re looking into”.
He added that the Swedish company had “still not made any decision on going there” but acknowledged strong demand for such cars in some of its most important markets.
“Especially in China and the US, the real three-row SUV is a growing segment and an interesting segment, but so far we have the [EX and XC]90 which covers the three-row,” he said.
Samuelsson stopped short of giving any more details of what form a larger new model could take but said customers in the key target markets “probably at least for the next few years would be more interested in a hybrid”, rather than an EV – which would need “very heavy batteries” to offer a meaningful range.
Samuelsson did hint, though, that any new hybrid SUV flagship would be built at Volvo’s Charleston plant in South Carolina, saying: “If we start building a car there, it will be a very attractive car for the US market and US customers.”
That plus the suggestion that the new flagship would be offered with a hybrid powertrain indicates that it could be based on the same SPA2 platform used by the XC90 and the electric EX90, which is already built at Volvo’s American plant.
However, as part of a move to collaborate more closely with its Geely sibling brands on the development of new hybrid models, Volvo could also look to other marques in the group portfolio to provide the basis for a new flagship.
One strong option would be the Zeekr 9X, which at 5.24m long is tangibly larger than the XC90, but with an overt luxury focus which means it only has two rows of seats.
Based on the same SEA-R platform that will underpin the forthcoming Lotus Eletre hybrid, it combines a 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine with a trio of electric motors for a combined 1350bhp and a 0-62mph time of 3.1sec, while a battery of up to 70kWh in capacity provides a maximum electric-only range of 188 miles.
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