The Volvo Concept
Coupé will be the centre of attention when Volvo Car Group (Volvo Cars) returns to the Tokyo Motor Show this November, as the company introduces its new
design strategy to customers and media around the globe. Lex Kerssemakers, Senior Vice President Product Strategy and Vehicle
Line Management at Volvo Cars, and Thomas Ingenlath, Senior Vice President
Design at Volvo Cars, will also attend the event’s press days on November
20 and 21.
Volvo Cars attends the Tokyo Motor Show this year for the
first time in seven years, a sign of the growing importance of the Japanese
market for Volvo Cars and the company’s strong momentum in the country. Volvo
sales in Japan so far this year have been extremely strong, with sales up over
25 per cent compared to 2012 and at a level not seen since the late 1990s.
Japanese customers have especially warmed to the Volvo V40, which was awarded
the prestigious 2013 Imported Car of The Year award by the Automotive
Researchers and Journalists Conference of Japan this month.
The rapid transformation of Volvo Cars is also highly
evident in the Volvo Concept Coupé, which was first shown during the 2013
Frankfurt Motor Show in September. The Volvo Concept Coupé showcases the
capability of the company’s new Scalable Product Architecture, as well as the
new, highly efficient four-cylinder Drive-E powertrains (formerly known as VEA)
that are already now available in six Volvo models.
Volvo Cars’ strategy is to use electrification to create the
most powerful versions in the Drive-E engine family, taking power figures up
into V8 territory. The Volvo Concept Coupé is equipped with Volvo Cars’
ingenious plug-in hybrid technology. A high-performance petrol engine teamed
with an electric motor on the rear axle gives the Volvo Concept Coupé a total
output of about 400 hp and over 600 Nm of torque.
The Volvo Concept Coupé is the first in a series of three
concept cars that demonstrate the new design direction of Volvo Cars and paves
the way for the introduction of the all-new XC90 in 2014.
“We are creating a new product portfolio that blends a
strong heritage with innovative technology and emotional design. Every core
area is brought into a new dimension, also injecting more emotion into the
rational properties that are the heart and soul of Volvo,” says Lex Kerssemakers.
“The Volvo Concept Coupé shows what you can expect from our
new architecture: the confident stance, the proportions and the most prominent
design signatures. Even though the all-new XC90 is a different type of car, you
will recognise the connection instantly,” says Thomas Ingenlath.
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