Volvo has been keeping busy lately with electric SUVs as small as the EX30 and as big as the EX90. The Geely-owned company knows customers are buying fewer cars as hatchback, coupe, sedan and wagon sales have slumped in recent days. The Swedish automaker is prioritizing developing new crossovers to replace existing models while adding new members to its portfolio.
Despite the SUV craze, CEO Jim Rowan mentioned during a November 2022 interview that electric sedans and wagons could hit the market after the SUV boom. On a similar note, chief operating officer Bjorn Annwall hinted in a new interview with the Australian magazine Car sell that sports cars are not completely out of the question:
“Every car brand needs a little spice that helps push the boundaries of what a car is, and I think Volvo should have that complementary car product too.” When asked if the company intends to launch a new sports car, Annwall grinned and said: “Keep an eye on it.”
Separately, Volvo’s exterior design manager, Orjan Sterner, acknowledged working on a “coupe or super sports car” was fun, but warned profits had to win out in the end. Consequently, the company is designing volume-oriented vehicles that have a solid business case, so SUVs will remain a key focus for the time being.
Volvo was one of the first luxury car makers to announce a phasing out of the combustion engine. Much like Bentley and Rolls-Royce, it will turn into a pure electric brand by 2030, five years after Jaguar. With SUVs set to remain the number one priority for the time being, it looks like it’s too late for ICE-powered sports cars. There have been some interesting cars in recent history, namely the P1800 Cyan pictured here and the Polestar 1 plug-in hybrid.
If Volvo powers another performance machine, logic tells us it will most likely be fully electric. Car sell speculate the sports car is unlikely to arrive until near the end of the decade or early 2030s. This is a realistic time frame considering how Volvo has bigger fish to fry now.