Volvo India launched the Volvo V40 Cross Country in India last week. The Cross Country is Volvo's answer to the emerging compact-luxury segment which is composed of the Audi Q3, BMW X1, Mercedes A and B Class and the upcoming Audi A3 and the BMW 1 Series.
Take a look at the Walk Around video first.
[Head to YouTube if you cannot see the video above]
Here are a few things you should know.
Volvo says there are no plans to introduce the petrol variant or the 4x4 version at the present. Internationally, the Cross Country 4x4 is available only on the petrol model.
Volvo is continuously expanding its dealer network in India. Kolkata and Vizag are next on their list for a dealership.
You'll be seeing 2 new Volvo products by the end of this year.
Volvo say that they aim to sell about 100-120 V40 Cross Country's by the end of this year. They seem to be confident about reaching that target and have already gathered sizable amount of bookings (the Chennai launch held today also saw the delivery of the first car).
Head to Page 2 for a detailed look at the features.
Mr. Tomas Ernberg, MD for Volvo Cars India, and Mr. Sudeep Narayan, Marketing and PR Director, Volvo Cars India, went to great lengths to explain the Cross Country. Here are some excerpts.
Volvo are keen to tell you that the Cross Country is a feature packed car. A single variant gets all the features. According to Volvo, when you're talking about luxury, everything should be standard.
On the styling of the car: It is a very expressive and rugged style. The lights of the car talk about it's expressiveness while the honeycomb grill at the front is an example for it's ruggedness.
The rear of the car features a black gloss finish, as do the door mirrors. The company says 'No chrome, No luxury' is an old school design. The trend is now shifting to something like the black gloss finish.
Speaking about the features: Std. panoramic sunroof with electric curtain, 7-inch infotainment system with DVD, iPhone connectivity, rear view camera with parking sensors, automatic parking, start-stop system, active bending bi-xenon lights, 7 airbags (knee airbags included), Volvo City Safety and 17-inch alloy wheels. Wait, there's more.
Head to Page 3 to watch the V40 Cross Country's ADD in action.
The Cross Country debuts the Volvo ADD (Adaptive Digital Display) which is actually a TFT Crystal display replacing your instrument cluster. It's a segment first and Volvo first in India. Volvo say that it was designed using racing cars and jelly fishes for inspiration! Check out the video to see how it works.
[Head to YouTube if you cannot view the video above]
[Note: The Volvo ADD for the V40 and the V40 Cross Country is the same.]
You also get 7 different ambient lights which is another segment first.
The inside rear view mirror is frameless and comes with an integrated compass. This sort of frameless design for the rear view currently doesn't exist in the market.
Volvo says that the Start-stop system works even when the temperature outside is as high as 38 degrees C. Claims 8% reduction in CO2 emissions. For automatic parking, the space needs to be 20% more than the length of the car.
Head to Page 4 to check out the Euro NCAP video of the V40.
Safety: 5 star Euro NCAP. This is the best result they have ever had (98% safe)
According to Volvo's statistics, India witnesses a death due to a road accident every 4min.
[Head to YouTube if you cannot see the video above]
The City safety is now upgraded and works at speeds up to 50km/h.
The engine is a 2.0-liter 5 cylinder diesel producing 150bhp of power and 350Nm of torque. A 6-speed AT sends power to the front wheels. Volvo claims 16.81km/l.
You get the Cross Country in 4 color choices: Misty Blue, Electric Silver Metallic, Biarritz Blue Metallic, Black Sapphire Metallic, Raw Copper Metallic and Passion Red. You can choose the interior in three color combos: Leather charcoal in charcoal, Leather Blond in Blond or Leather Hazel Brown in Charcoal.
Head to Page 5 to find out how Volvo is positioning the V40 Cross Country in the compact-luxury segment.
How it competes with the rest: Volvo says that the Audi Q3 and BMW X1 are even more rugged than the V40 CC, but non expressive. The Mercedes A and B Class are not as rugged, but expressive.
The V40 Cross Country is even more expressive and rugged than the A and B Class while being more expressive than the X1 and Q3.
Bookings for the V40 Cross Country have commenced. The car is priced at INR 28.5 lakhs (ex-Showroom, Delhi) and INR 29.05 lakhs (ex-Showroom, Chennai).
