Volvo C40

As the Volvo brand moved more and more upmarket during the 2010s, its smaller cars, the P1 platform C30, S40, and V50, all completed their production runs in without obvious replacements; the V50's compact wagon replacement, the V40, never made it to the USA.

Changing consumer tastes throughout the same period showed declining interest in small premium cars, but increasing interest in premium compact crossover SUVs, or "CUVs", with similar footprints and equipment levels as premium compacts, but a taller seating position and AWD. Vehicles like the BMW X1 and Range Rover Evoque took advantage of this demand and racked up huge sales.

After the launch of its larger, SPA-platform based XC90 and XC60 siblings, Volvo turned to their new global compact architecture, CMA, to break in to the CUV market. As with the SPA platform, CMA (also called the P6 platform) was developed with an eye towards electrification, with built-in support for either internal combustion engines and fuel tanks or electric motors and battery packs. 

Hot on the heels of Volvo's successful new CUV, the XC40, came a new "coupé SUV" with a sloping rear liftgate: the C40. Cast from the same mould as Volvo's Polestar-branded performance EVs, the C40 is the first car wearing Volvo's Iron ring to ditch internal combustion completely, with the sole model available being the 200-mile-range, eAWD, 400hp Recharge.

• Five door subccompact "coupé SUV" crossover based on the Volvo P6 platform
  • Also called the CMA ("Compact Modular Architecture") platform, for compact cars with an eye towards hybrid and full electric powertrains
• Sold in the USA starting in 2022 model year
• All models are full-electric Recharge branded, with dual AC permanent-magnet synchronous motors giving 402hp
• Direct-drive eAWD
• 78kw lithium-ion battery pack, with about 200 miles of range and quick charging

Model information is based on the USA vehicle market. Other model variations may exist outside the USA.