It’s human nature to want what we can’t have, and for a lot of Volvo enthusiasts, the V40 is something they desire. We’re perplexed why it hasn’t been approved for sale in the United States. Here we get the coupe C30, which is scheduled to go out of production next year. A five-door hatch model has more appeal to a broader section of the market. In Europe, the V40 replaces both the C30 and V50.
It is placed in the thick of the European entry-level luxury segment, competing against the Audi A3, BMW 1-Series and Mercedes-Benz A-Class. This is a segment poised to see a lot of growth here and around the world over the next few years. The V40 would make a solid entry; it is arguably one of the most stylish Volvo products ever, inside and out.
In addition, it has ground-breaking safety systems such as the world-first pedestrian airbag. The latest twist of the knife about the V40 comes with news about a full-fledged performance variant, by way of Polestar. The Volvo-Polestar partnership has been a mutually beneficial one for both companies. So far it has wrought performance upgrades to the automaker’s T5 and T6 engines, as well as the attention-getting Volvo S60 Polestar Concept. We were hoping the latter would signal the start of a de facto new performance sub-brand for Volvo. Instead of beginning with the S60 though, the V40 could be a launching pad instead.
PistonHeads reports that a V40 Polestar is scheduled for a launch at the Paris Motor Show in September. Rather than just a rumor (we’re still bitter about the S60), news about the V40 came directly from Volvo UK managing director Nick Connor. Connor was the one who recently confirmed a limited-production run of the S60 Polestar Concept. Apparently the V40 Polestar would be a more volume offering, placing the Audi A3 and BMW M135i squarely in its sights. To do that, the car would take the 254-horsepower V40 T5 (itself a performance variant) and boost it up to the 280-300 hp level. The added power would be routed through an all-wheel drive system. This is more like it – if true, welcome to the world of performance again Volvo. We’ll take one in Polestar blue. Oh wait, we can’t….
