The Volvo V60
The Volvo V60
It’s the end of an era.
Volvo estate cars, for so long the bastion of families requiring space for a growing family and a cavernous boot to carry all the familial clobber, have been axed in the UK as the switch to electric continues.
The news comes after the iconic Swedish carmaker confirmed it will now exclusively sell SUVs in the UK, meaning the Volvo S60 Saloon, V60 and V90 Estate follow the S90 into retirement.
So, what’s the reason behind the decision? Simple. Sales of the models have dropped significantly in the UK as buyers flock to Volvo SUVs.
In the first half of 2023, almost 25,000 new Volvos were registered in the UK. Less than 10% of the vehicles were estates or saloons. By contrast, SUVs make up 70% of all of Volvo’s 291,000 car sales.
‘We continue to rapidly transform our product offer, which means not only moving towards full electrification, but also shifting to new platforms and technologies across all our cars,’ a spokesman for the company said.
‘We will naturally need to evolve and consolidate our line-up as we prioritise fully electric cars and make this technological transition.
‘As a result, we have removed further models from the UK line-up. These include the S60, V60 and V90. Demand for our existing SUV line-up continues to grow, while interest in our forthcoming fully electric EX30 and EX90 models is strong.
Thinking of making the switch to electric?
‘Meanwhile, appetite for our saloon and estate models has fallen to very low levels in the UK, which has led to our decision to remove these models from sale in the UK.’
So, from a business perspective, the decision to pull the plug on the estates is completely logical. But the decision brings to an end to an almost 60-year journey after the P220, or Amazon, went on sale in the UK during the 1960s.
But before that, the first-ever Volvo estate to go on sale was the Volvo PV455 Duett, which launched in 1953. Since then, it’s estimated the company has sold around six million estate cars around the world, including 24,775 sold globally this year.
The bulk of the estates built for the UK market were produced in Volvo’s Torslanda factory in Gothenburg. The firm will now use the capacity for other models. Production of both saloon and estate models will continue for markets where there is still demand, including those requiring right-hand drive vehicles.
But if you’re desperate to stick with a Volvo estate, buyers can still purchase surplus stock through the company’s website or talk to someone at your nearest Arnold Clark Volvo dealership.
The current Volvo range, though, will continue to expand as the demand for SUVs grows across the UK. Worth highlighting, of course, is that their structure and chassis shape are more acceptant of the future requirements of carrying heavy battery packs as we shift to an all-electric new car marketplace.
Today’s Volvo range now starts with the XC40 and C40 Recharge, with the XC60 filling the gap between them and the seven-seat XC90. These will be joined later this year by the new EX30 crossover, with the EX90 joining the line-up in 2024. A successor to the XC60 is due to arrive in 2025.
