New Volvo Concept Heading to Frankfurt

[Volvo Universe Concept from the 2011 Shanghai Auto Show Pictured Above] Volvo announced today that it plans to reveal a new concept car at next week's Frankfurt Motor show. This new study, pictures of which have not yet been released, will highlight the Swedish company’s new downsized engine range, which will feature only four-cylinder gasoline and diesel engines.

“It’s time to stop counting cylinders”, said Volvo’s Senior Vice President for Research and Development, Peter Martens. “The concept we will reveal at Frankfurt proves that downsized engines can go hand in hand with our customers’ expectations on luxury and driving pleasure.”

The new modular Volvo Environmental Architecture (VEA) four-cylinder engine range features direct injection for its gasoline and common rail for its diesel variants. According to Martens, the new engines are ideal for hybrid applications and will reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions without sacrificing performance.

“We will develop four-cylinder engines with higher performance than today’s six-cylinder units and lower fuel consumption than the current four-cylinder generation," said Martens.

Volvo claims that the VEA range, which is designed for transverse applications, will reduce the number of unique engine parts by an impressive 60%. It will also be up to 90 kg (198 pounds) lighter than the current range and improve fuel consumption by up to 35%.

Later this autumn Volvo will also test the Kinetic Energy Recovering System, which captures braking energy that would otherwise be dissipated as heat and power a flywheel that spins at up to 60,000 rpm. This system that is already used in Formula 1 will “offer the driver an additional 80HP while reducing fuel consumption by up to 20%," according to Martens.

Last, but not least, Volvo announced that it is developing a new model range that will be based on a new, modular structure called Scalable Platform Architecture (current Volvo models are based on previous owner’s Ford platforms) that will also be 100-150 kg (220-330 pounds) lighter than current models.

The SPA architecture will allow the company to base most of its new models on the same modular platform, thus achieving significant cuts in development, tooling and manufacturing costs. And, as Martens claims, “along with the new engine range, will enable us to be on par or even beat our toughest competitors in driving dynamics and fuel economy.”

The new engines and platform will also benefit future models looks as the company’s head of design, Peter Horbury, said that the Frankfurt concept will be “a great example of what we can achieve with the new architecture and engines.”

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