Final countdown for petrol-powered Volvos

Volvo has one last round of updates up its sleeve for its existing petrol and diesel cars before its line-up becomes electric only.

The Swedish brand – owned by Chinese car maker Geely – has previously committed to becoming an all-electric brand by 2030, bringing an end to its current petrol models, and having confirmed its axing of diesel globally in 2024.

It also means the end of heavy financial and technical investment in them, too, with Volvo suggesting exterior styling and interior upgrades will ensure showroom appeal for their final years alongside newer electric cars.

The SPA1 (Scalable Platform Architecture 1) of the current generation of petrol-powered Volvos was introduced on the Volvo XC90 SUV in 2014 before being used across the brand’s line-up.

“The XC90 and our SPA1 cars have been very successful; they have a strong, timeless design in their appearance right now,” said Chief Operating Officer Bjorn Annwall at Volvo’s fourth quarter and end-of-year (2023) report.

“We have updated the infotainment with Android embedded, and so forth. But there is a next step you can do on exterior styling, interior design and also infotainment.

“That’s clearly something we’re investing into; they’re not huge investments and it’s something we know very well how to do.”

“Clearly the transition [to electrification] happens at different timescales around the world,” Annwall added.

More than one-third (35.5 per cent) of Volvo sales in Australia in 2023 were electric vehicles.

Of eight Volvos in Australian showrooms, the XC90 is one of only five petrol-powered offerings – including hybrid versions – alongside the S60 sedan, V60 wagon, XC60 and XC40 SUVs.

The XC40 is also available as a battery-electric vehicle – the fifth-best-selling electric vehicle in Australia in 2023 and Volvo’s best electric seller  – alongside the electric C40 crossover, with both cars using the CMA (Compact Modular Architecture) platform.