Volvo's award-winning XC40 has notched up another accolade, winning the 2021 Drive Car of the Year award for Best Small Luxury SUV.
Announcing the award today, Drive Managing Editor and judge, Trent Nikolic, said:
"Stylish form, practical functionality, the Volvo XC40 represents everything we admire about Volvo. Its greatest strength is perhaps the fact that the entry level model feels anything but entry grade, and the judges liked the cabin quality and insulation during testing.
"It rides as comfortably on the open road, as it does effectively on the dynamic handling loop, and despite its compact dimensions, makes a strong case for the family road trip, where covering longer distances is no problem whatsoever."
Vehicles in the Drive Car of the Year awards are judged against a set of criteria that are most relevant to the consumer including driver technology, comfort, safety, ongoing running costs, plus all the fun stuff including performance and handling.
"The standard inclusion list is long regardless of model grade, the judges liked the smartphone-style portrait orientation infotainment screen, and the general feel of the XC40 delivers to both form and function, proving that you don't have to have one at the expense of the other," Nikolic said.
"This segment is, without doubt, one of the toughest to separate. In overall terms though, and with the addition of a plug-in hybrid, the Volvo XC40 delivers the most compelling case."
Volvo Car Australia Managing Director, Stephen Connor, said: "Winning the Drive Car of the Year award is testament to the continued success of XC40 in the very competitive luxury small SUV segment.
"It also underlines the strong growth of our brand in Australia which is the most competitive car market in the world."
Since its launch in 2018 the XC40 has won several prestigious awards, including being named 2019 Wheels Car of the Year, Carsales Car of the Year in 2018 and the 2018 European Car of The Year.
In Q3 2021 Volvo will launch its first all-electric car, the XC40 Recharge Pure Electric, which will be the first of five all-electric models to be launched over the next five years.
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Volvo Car Group in 2020
For the 2020 financial year, Volvo Car Group recorded an operating profit of 8.5 BSEK (14.3 BSEK in 2019). Revenue over the period amounted to 262.8 BSEK (274.1 BSEK). For the full year of 2020, global sales reached 661,713 cars (705,452), a decline of 6.2 per cent compared to 2019.
About Volvo Car Group
Volvo Cars was founded in 1927. Today, it is one of the most well-known and respected car brands in the world with sales of 661,713 cars in 2020 in about 100 countries. Volvo Cars has been under the ownership of the Zhejiang Geely Holding since 2010.
As of December 2020, Volvo Cars employed approximately 40,000 (41,500) full-time employees. Volvo Cars head office, product development, marketing and administration functions are mainly located in Gothenburg, Sweden. Volvo Cars head office for APAC is located in Shanghai. The company's main car production plants are located in Gothenburg (Sweden), Ghent (Belgium), South Carolina (US), Chengdu and Daqing (China), while engines are manufactured in Skövde (Sweden) and Zhangjiakou (China) and body components in Olofström (Sweden).
Under its new company purpose, Volvo Cars aims to provide customers with the Freedom to Move in a personal, sustainable and safe way. This purpose is reflected into a number of business ambitions: for example, by the middle of this decade it aims for half of its global sales to be fully electric cars and to establish five million direct consumer relationships. Volvo Cars is also committed to an ongoing reduction of its carbon footprint, with the ambition to be a climate-neutral company by 2040.