Volvo's new V70 wagon was introduced simultaneously at 40 European locations and at the Detroit and Brussels auto shows on Monday, January 10. Volvo invited about 20,000 customers to see the new wagon in Europe.
The wagon and its sibling, the Volvo V70 XC, will be made in Volvo's factory in Torslanda, Sweden, initially. Eventually, the cars will also be made in Ghent, Belgium. Volvo is planning for worldwide volume of about 80,000 vehicles.
The front-wheel-drive V70 wagon will be launched first. The all-wheel-drive V70 XC, called the Cross Country, will go on sale in August.
The new V70 is 100mm shorter than the current generation V70, but the new car actually looks larger and has more interior volume. To make the car shorter, achieving greater torsional stiffness in the process, Volvo had to keep the bumpers from protruding. This was achieved by suspending the radiator in elastic elements. When the car is involved in a low speed frontal collision, the radiator springs backward without being damaged.
The joints in the wagon's vertical tailgate are bonded instead of spot-welded, saving space and producing greater torsional stiffness.
The wagon includes a number of details designed with input from customers. It can be equipped with a shopping bag holder and a rear-seat table and also comes with a waste-paper basket that fits onto a rear tunnel console. There is also a coat hangar in the form of a small button on the passenger-seat headrest.
Customers in Europe will be able to choose between three turbocharged gasoline engines (1.9-liter and 2.4-liter light-pressure turbos, and a 2.3-liter high-pressure turbo) and a 2.4-liter turbodiesel. The range will be extended in the future to include five normally aspirated engines. The V70 will come with a five-speed automatic transmission with an adaptive gearbox. There will also be a five-speed manual.
