Volvo Developing New Crossover "Fuv" - family-utility vehicle - Brief Article

Automotive Industries, July, 2000 by Dale Jewett

Volvo believes the blurred line that separates cars and trucks can stand some more smudging.

This summer the Swedish automaker is launching the second generation of the Cross Country, the all-wheel-drive variant of the V70 station wagon. The new Cross County, and its traditional V70 wagon stablemate, ride on Volvo's new P2 platform that debuted last year on the new S80 sedan.

But Volvo is working on another vehicle based on the P2, says Lars Erik Lundin, Volvo vice president of new project who has guided development of the V70, Cross Country and forthcoming S60 sedan.

The new project is dubbed "family utility vehicle," Lundin says. The development bogies for the "FUV" include increased seating capacity, bigger wheels and higher ride height than the Cross Country. Such dimensions will nudge the vehicle into truck territory, as the Cross Country already has 8.3 inches of ground clearance (nearly two inches more than the first generation) with the seating hip-point raised one inch.

Development of the new vehicle, possibly badged V90, is being handled by a separate group, Lundin says. Its arrival will boost global output of the P2 platform beyond the 360,000 units annually covered by the S80, V70 and S60 at plants in Gothenburg, Sweden and Ghent, Belgium.

The new vehicle apparently will arrive for the 2002 model year, capping a three-year stream of new products from Volvo that's included the S80 sedan, C70 convertible, 40-series sedan and wagon, the new Cross Country and a new, smaller, S60 sedan to be unveiled in August.

The original Cross Country, launched in 1997, was a surprise hit for Volvo -- 17,500 units sold that year. Last year 45 percent of the Volvo wagons sold in the U.S. were Cross Country models. It arrived just as Subaru was striking gold with the awd Outback variations of its sedans and wagons, the first sign that the sport-utility market was splintering into a whole range of subsegments. Upcoming competitors include the 2001 Audi Allroad, based on the A6 wagon.

Did Volvo consider tapping into corporate parent Ford Motor Co.'s stable for a more truck-like vehicle? No, Lundin says.

"Sorry, Ford, I could not live with a Ford Explorer. It jitters the whole time, and drives me crazy," Lundin says.

EDITED BY DALE JEWETT DJEWETT@CAHNERS.COM