Volvo is gearing up to launch an all-electric minivan in China that will apparently be based on the Zeekr 009. The impending launch of the new model was uncovered on a slide of a presentation that the president of Volvo Cars Greater China Sales Company recently made to select media members. The slide showed that Volvo will launch six cars in China in 2023, namely the XC40 BEV, C40, EX90, a high-end EX90 Excellent variant, an unnamed SUV, and an MPV.
Car News China reports that the new Volvo
will be based on the Zeekr 009. This makes sense as both Volvo and Zeekr are
owned by the Geely Group and sharing parts between the two models will help to
cut costs significantly. Underpinning the 009 is Geely’s SEA electric vehicle
platform that rocks a pair of electric motors, all-wheel drive, and delivers an
impressive 536 hp. It is claimed that the Volvo will feature exactly the same
powertrain and that the chassis hard points will also be identical.
Few other details are known about the
Volvo SUV but it will inevitably have a design fitting of the rest of the Volvo
family. It’s safe to say that the interior of the Zeekr 009 will also undergo
significant changes. We suspect the cabin of Volvo’s MPV could look quite
similar to that of the EX90, likely including a portrait-oriented central
infotainment screen and a digital instrument cluster.
Chinese media suggests that the MPV will
be presented as a concept in the third quarter of this year before launching in
production guise in the fourth quarter.
