A square peg doesn’t fit an SUV-shaped hole. That’s the clear message from Volvo UK which has quietly removed its estate and saloon cars from sale.
The S90 saloon was the first to disappear earlier this summer, then the V60 and V90 Cross Country models reached the end of the track and the S60 and V60 quickly followed.
Volvo is accelerating towards a fully-electric line-up and its traditional body styles are being left behind. Market forces are also at stake, however, with the Swedish company’s global sales being dominated by the six-year-old XC60 SUV which outsold the S60, V60, S90 and V90 combined in the first half of 2023. In the UK, the decades-long love affair with boxy Volvo estates and saloons is already over, with buyers overwhelmingly opting for crossovers instead.
“We continue to rapidly transform our product offer, which means not only moving towards full electrification, but also shifting to new platforms and technologies across all our cars,” Volvo told Autocar. “We will naturally need to evolve and consolidate our line-up as we prioritise fully electric cars and make this technological transition.”
“As a result, we have removed further models from the UK line-up. These include the S60, V60 and V90. Demand for our existing SUV line-up continues to grow, while interest in our forthcoming fully electric EX30 and EX90 models is strong. Meanwhile, appetite for our saloon and estate models has fallen to very low levels in the UK, which has led to our decision to remove these models from sale in the UK.”
Should you still feel the need for Swede in its traditional form then there are a few cars left in dealer forecourts. Or you could join the police as Volvo’s saloons and estates will continue to be available to order by the emergency services.
