Several decades ago, you're looking at a sedan or a wagon when talking about a Volvo vehicle. However, as the age of electrification begins, Volvo's electric vehicle push exclusively involves SUVs.
That could change in the years to come, according to CEO Jim Rowan, but there will be conditions that will have to be met.
The Volvo EX90 is the latest of the electric SUVs coming from the Geely-owned Swedish marque. It's the third EV, following the C40 Recharge and the more conventionally shaped XC40 Recharge. There will be a fourth smaller electric SUV, which was teased during the reveal of the recently unveiled EX90. It will debut in 2023.
After that, it's unclear if Volvo's next electric vehicle will be another SUV. However, CEO Jim Rowan offered some hints in an interview with Autocar. When asked whether sedans and wagons will play a part in Volvo's electric future, Rowan gave a vague answer, saying that they are trying to capture various customer requirements in cars.
Rowan opens doors to the possibility of electric sedans and wagons in the interview, though.
"Our strategy is that we will be tight. We’ll look after the demographic that we think makes sense. We’ve teased what’s coming next, and we’d already signaled we’d do a smaller SUV. Then different formats, saloons and estates or whatever: we’ll get to that when we get to that," Rowan told Autocar.
Rowan also noted pricing in the age of EVs. Fortunately, platform and technology sharing between EVs plays a huge role to lower the costs.
"You need to get to price parity between ICE and BEV. No industry can rely on subsidies for a long period of time. You’ve got to make sure that you can be comparative," Rowan told Autocar.
Of note, the Volvo EX90 flagship SUV is built on the new SPA2 platform. The announced smaller electric SUV will be using the Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) architecture, a modular platform that's being developed by Volvo and Geely.
