Volvo launches new V40 luxury hatch in India

Volvo sells five different models in various categories in India, and while we’ve driven and appreciated many of them, their sales figures tend to lag the established European competition. Until recently, the V40 Cross Country was the only luxury hatch (or similar) vehicle from the Swedish-Chinese manufacturer’s India stables. That’s changed now with the launch of the proper V40 hatch. At an aggressive price starting at Rs 24.75 lac (ex-Delhi) for the D3 Kinetic variant, the car is aggressively priced and good value for what it offers.

Volvo hasn’t moved any goalposts with the V40. The only engine on offer is the 150hp/350Nm diesel using a 6-speed automatic transmission. It’s a decent drivetrain, but not exactly meant for spirited driving. Of course, Volvo is known for their exemplary safety features, and the V40 is no slouch. The hatch can prevent accidents up to 50kmph by braking automatically in case of an inattentive driver. There’s a park-assist function that can execute perfect parallel parking every time (though curiously, a parking camera is an ‘accessory’) and the V40 is even available with a unique “pedestrian airbag” that reduces injuries to people you may inadvertently run down. With our sort of traffic, we’re not sure how useful this feature would be, a bit like the proximity parking alarms that we usually keep off in traffic.

The Volvo V40 R-Design variant is also available, at a price of Rs 27.7 lac (ex-Delhi), which adds more bells and whistles including a panoramic (but fixed) front-to-back glass roof. We’ll have a test drive for you soon.