Volvo is
taking a big step away from its own history and industry trends, choosing to
stop its use of alphanumeric model designations like XC90, C40, and S60. The
company will instead start using phonetic names.
Speaking
to Autocar, Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson said that the upcoming follow-up to the XC90 will get a more emotional name
than the well-recognized combination of numbers and letters.
“If you
look at cars today, all of them are very ‘engineeredly’ named: XC, T8, All-Wheel-Drive, double-overhead cams – it’s
all specification on the rear of many cars,” said Samuelsson.
Volvo’s use
of XC to mean SUVs, V to mean wagons, C to mean coupes, and S to mean sedans
dates back to 1995, though. As it enters a new era, though, the Swedish automaker wants to mark the shift with
new names.
“We’re
talking about a totally new architecture, a new-generation of born-electric,
all-electric cars with central computing,” Samuelsson said. “It’s good and
clear to mark that this is a new beginning, and that’s why we’re not going to
have numbers and letters, an engineering type of name. We’re going to give them
a name as you give a newborn child a name.”
Previewed
with the “Recharge” concept, the follow-up to the XC90 will
have a radical design that eliminates “unnecessary elements” and allows for
“high-precision, flush execution.” Based on an EV-only platform, the new SUV
will feature advanced driver aids, over-the-air updates, and more.
It’s little
wonder, then, that Volvo wants to mark the
transformative vehicle with a new name. Although it will be released in 2022,
Samuelsson says that a name hasn’t been confirmed yet but that the company has
“a very interesting and creative discussion going on.”
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