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 400hp and over 600Nm 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 recognize the connection instantly,” says Thomas Ingenlath.