Volvo sedans and wagons safe in Australia, for now

Volvo has announced it’s axing all its sedan and wagon models in the UK, but they remain safe in Australia for now.

The Chinese-owned, Swedish-headquartered carmaker currently offers the S60 sedan and the V60 Cross Country wagon locally, following the discontinuation of the S90 sedan in 2019 and the V90 Cross Country and regular V60 wagons in 2021.

“For us the [S60 and V60 Cross Country] remain part of the model line-up,” said a Volvo Car Australia spokesperson.

“We always continue to evaluate our product portfolio to suit the local market conditions and consumer demand and endeavour to offer as many of our models for local consumption.

“As we head toward executing our all-electric car company model line up could look different in the future.”

The Australian-spec Volvo S60 sedan is currently sourced from China, whereas the V60 Cross Country wagon is sourced from Belgium.

As reported by Autocar, Volvo UK has discontinued its sedan and wagon offerings due to growing demand for its existing SUV models, as well as for the forthcoming EX30 and EX90 electric SUVs.

Locally 70 and 92 examples of the Volvo S60 and V60 Cross Country, respectively, have been sold this year until the end of June. Every other SUV offering outsells these models by a considerable amount.

Volvo Australia’s current top-seller, the XC40, is currently the second top-selling luxury small SUV this year to date with 541 examples sold. Within its segment, it’s outsold only by the BMW X1 (624 sales).

As previously reported, Volvo wants to sell its last petrol-powered car in Australia during 2025 as part of an ambitious plan aimed at making it one of Australia’s largest luxury brands.

The brand has committed to selling only electric cars by 2030 worldwide, but Volvo Car Australia managing director Stephen Connor told media in November 2022 he thinks the brand’s local buyers will be ready before then.

“We’re not going to wait for 2030, we’re not going to wait for the global strategy to come out. I put a proposal to Gothenburg the other day, and we will be fully electric by 2026 in Australia,” said Mr Connor.

Although upstarts such as Tesla, BYD, and its corporate cousins at Polestar are already electric-only, Volvo plans to be the first brand to fully transition to pure-electric power in Australia having previously offered petrol, diesel, and plug-in hybrid options here.

“If our product was available today, I would probably put our hands up. We could do it today. I think the consumer is ready for it, I really do,” Mr Connor said.

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