The Volvo Concept Coupe will be the center of attention when Volvo Car Group (Volvo Cars) returns to the Tokyo Motor Show this month, as the company introduces its new design strategy to customers and media around the globe.
Volvo Cars attends the Tokyo Motor Show this year for the first time in seven years, a sign of the growing importance of the Japanese market for Volvo Cars and the company’s strong momentum in the country.
Volvo sales in Japan so far this year have been extremely strong, with sales up over 25 per cent compared to 2012 and at a level not seen since the late 1990s. Japanese customers have especially warmed to the Volvo V40, which was awarded the prestigious 2013 Imported Car of The Year award by the Automotive Researchers and Journalists Conference of Japan this month.
The transformation of Volvo Cars is also highly evident in the Volvo Concept Coupe, which was first shown during the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show in September.
The Volvo Concept Coupe showcases the capability of the company’s new Scalable Product Architecture, as well as the new, highly efficient four-cylinder Drive-E powertrains (formerly known as VEA) that are already now available in six Volvo models.
Volvo Cars’ strategy is to use electrification to create the most powerful versions in the Drive-E engine family, taking power figures up into V8 territory. The Volvo Concept Coupe is equipped with Volvo Cars’ ingenious plug-in hybrid technology. A high-performance petrol engine teamed with an electric motor on the rear axle gives the Volvo Concept Coupe a total output of about 400 hp and over 600 Nm of torque.
The Volvo Concept Coupe is the first in a series of three concept cars that demonstrate the new design direction of Volvo Cars and paves the way for the introduction of the all-new XC90 in 2014.
