There was once a time when the words “Volvo” and “sports car” were as compatible as oil and water. Volvo just didn’t have the chops or the intention to build sports cars. Volvo built safe cars, which is what the Swedish automaker ultimately decided to hang its hat on. Times sure have changed because Volvo is not only thinking of overhauling its lineup, but its planning to do it by re-entering the sports car and convertible market. Stranger things have happened, but this one is definitely up there.
Volvo’s Senior Vice President of Research and Development Peter Mertens recently dropped this surprising news to Motoring Australia. Apparently, Volvo has seen the light and it’s beginning to understand that safety, while extremely important in the auto industry, shouldn’t be the be-all and end-all of its design strategy. If it wants to tap into the younger demographic, it needs to have cars that, in Mertens words, “combine safety and sexy design”.
The plan, according to Mertens, is to begin developing new sports car and convertible models that will be based on Volvo’s new Scalable Product Architecture (SPA). The company proved with the Concept Coupe that it’s more than capable of building a sports car with the kind of styling dynamics that will get people’s attention.
For now, though, Volvo remains committed in renewing its existing models, which is a pretty smart move considering that it’s got a new design language to creatively work around showcasing the company’s newfound styling chops. Once those models are done, then we can expect Volvo to begin developing sports cars.
So don’t expect to see a Volvo sports car to challenge the Jaguar F-Type Roadster anytime soon. It could happen, which is already half-the-battle won when it comes to Volvo. But as far as expecting one to be launched in the next few years, we strongly suggest exercising a little bit of patience.
Note: Volvo C70 Convertible pictured here.
Click past the jump to read more about Volvo’s future plans.
Volvo Plans New Sports Cars and Convertible originally appeared on topspeed.com on Monday, 13 October 2014 16:00 EST.
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