The Volvo XC70 is back! But not as a wagon, and not for the U.S. — at least not yet.
Do you remember the old Volvo XC70? That quirky lifted wagon with flat gray bumpers and body cladding before the whole ruggedized crossover thing took off? The Swedish automaker killed this model off about a decade ago (when it brought out the modern V90 Cross Country), and the XC70 name has been dormant ever since. Now, though, there’s a new Volvo XC70. And for wagon fans out there, brace yourself for the all-too-familiar disappointment: It’s a plug-in hybrid SUV. We may not even be getting it either, as this version built on Volvo’s Scalable Modular Architecture is meant to hit the Chinese market later this year.
But, there is a “but”. As automakers broadly back off rushing headlong into purely electric cars, they need an offramp in the form of more hybrid options. That’s where CEO Håkan Samuelsson — long-time executive who was reappointed to the post on March 30, succeeding Jim Rowan — comes into the conversation. Per an Automotive News report, he wants to see greater utilization of the firm’s $1.1 billion South Carolina plant beyond just building the electric EX90 and Polestar 3 SUVs. Specifically, Samuelsson mentioned bringing production of a “high-volume hybrid” into the mix to boost overall output, and in the process offer another option for customers and hedge against heavy 25% automotive tariffs.
In the current manufacturing landscape, those tariffs are set to hurt companies with relatively little U.S. manufacturing the most, and that’s by design. Volvo, which only builds a couple models in the U.S. at present, imports its most popular vehicles from Europe. The S90 sedan was formerly imported from China, but has since been discontinued, while the small EX30 SUV meant for the U.S. market did come from China, but now comes from Europe as well.
SUVs are king right now, and it’s possible this newest XC70 model could make it to the U.S. after its Chinese launch.
Volvo could also introduce production of its existing XC60 or XC90 hybrid models. Any of the three could potentially emerge from South Carolina as the automaker seeks to avoid tariffs crushing its bottom line, but we do not have any confirmation of which model that might be just yet. According to AutoNews, Samuelsson is planning to travel to the U.S. to speak with dealers about which model they’d most like to see make the cut for U.S. production. Both the XC60 and XC90 are crucial pieces of Volvo’s American sales volume, so it will be interesting to see additional updates here.
As for the new XC70, Volvo did not shed too many technical details just yet. It is larger and more spacious than the XC60, it says, which makes sense given the name. It gets a shield-like closed grille like the company’s EVs, but still offers a gas engine to extend driving range — something which Chinese and American buyers alike demand.
Volvo says it will share more information on the new XC70 in the coming months, so we’ll have to wait and see what other details are available at that time, as well as whether this model or one of the brand’s existing SUVs will begin rolling off the South Carolina assembly like sometime soon.
