The Volvo estate is alive but only in the hearts of execs, for now...

Volvo has long been recognised as the undisputed king of estate cars, but it still won’t commit to any plans for a new one for a very simple reason – it’s unsure whether there’s enough people who haven’t been converted to SUVs that would buy one.

It wasn’t that long ago that the Swedish brand had four different estates in its showrooms, but now just one remains, the V60, after the larger V90 went out of production last year. 

Load-lugger fans can rest assured, though, that there are no plans to axe the V60. UK boss Nicole Melillo Shaw promised us: “We’ll keep it going until such time as we can’t.”

Volvo did discontinue the firm’s existing V60 and V90 models in 2023, but they returned a year later thanks to popular demand and an outcry on social media, with the brand’s sales boss later admitting to us the decision was a mistake. Rivals BMW, Mercedes and Audi, plus several other marques, are also making new models, so clearly there is still some love for the humble estate.

“From my perspective, it’s always great to have a representation of the iconic heritage of your brand across the range,” Melillo Shaw said. “Even if it’s not in multiple variants, just to have that… I think that’s ideal. And having that alongside the newer innovation really demonstrates our commitment to all cars, whether they're estates, saloons or SUVs.”

Believe it or not, the UK is the third biggest market for Volvo worldwide, behind only China and America, and Melillo Shaw understands that Brits’ love for the brand comes from nostalgia. She continued: “When I talk to people, there’s a huge amount of nostalgia. It’s ‘my grandad had one’ or ‘my dad had one’. A lot of people actually apply to work at Volvo because of that.

“I think that is really important, particularly in the market we're in now. People have a genuine love for the brand. It’s because it’s not coming from a functional perspective, it’s coming from an emotional connection.”

However, fond memories for your parents’ old Volvo 245 or 960 don’t necessarily translate to sales, and in today’s hugely competitive market, what people clearly want are SUVs. Hence why the company is hesitant about investing the time, resources and cash to create a new estate car, when there’s easier money in a big volume crossover. 

“If you look at the industry, there are some real tough choices having to be made at the moment,” said the UK boss. “I appreciate it looks a little bit schizophrenic being in, out and all the rest of it [with our estate cars], but it does come from a very rational position of ‘are we selling enough of them?’”

Akhil Krishnan, vice president of Volvo’s ‘60’ line, echoed this when we asked him about a new estate car. He said: “If there’s a business case, why not? It depends on how the market is, but of course estate cars are an emotional thing for those who really like estate cars.”

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A new Volvo estate car could still happen

Very importantly, Volvo hasn’t given an unequivocal ‘no’ when we’ve repeatedly asked various execs at the brand whether it will make a new estate car, including CEO Håkan Samuelsson. 

We recently asked him if Volvo’s new, highly scalable EV architecture, SPA3, which underpins the EX60, could be used for an electric station wagon to which he simply replied: “That’s an interesting opportunity.”

Chief commercial officer Erik Severinson also told us: “SPA3 is a very capable architecture to do big cars, small cars, high and low cars, which is a prerequisite for any estate discussion.” Krishnan hinted the same, so the door is clearly being left open for now.

The SPA3 architecture will underpin all of Volvo’s new electric cars from here on, and features plenty of cutting-edge tech such as cell-to-body integration for the battery pack, an 800-volt electrical system and weight-saving, complexity-reducing megacasting construction. But it also unlocks more cabin space, according to Krishnan, and a lot more freedom for the designers, allowing them to accommodate big tall SUVs plus, theoretically, low, sleek estate cars.

Volvo says it’s building up to the “most ambitious product plan in its history,” which will be outlined on 17 September – and we can only hope it will include at least one practical Scandi station wagon. 

In the meantime, if you fancy a new Volvo V60 estate, customers save £1,800 on average by ordering through the Auto Express Buy A Car service.

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