More than three years on from its launch, the Volvo XC40 premium compact SUV continues to set the standards in its class, honoured as the Family SUV of the Year in the What Car? Awards for the third time. It’s a fitting culmination to a year in which Volvo’s best-selling model in the UK has also been the premium market’s most popular SUV, taking the lead in one of the most fiercely contested market segments.
In bestowing the award on the XC40 (specifically the T3 R-Design automatic version), the What Car? judges commented: “It might be a few years since we voted the multi-talented Volvo XC40 our Car of the Year, but it still cuts the mustard. It blends generous passenger space and a practical boot with a quality interior and top-notch safety, so you aren’t only buying a hugely desirable product, but one backed up with real substance.”
Today, the XC40 range exemplifies Volvo’s far-reaching commitment to electrification, with a line-up featuring two Recharge petrol-electric plug-in hybrid versions (the T4 and T5) and two mild-hybrid petrol powertrains (the B4 and B5). Anticipation is also high for the first UK customer deliveries this spring of the XC40 Recharge Pure Electric P8, Volvo’s first fully electric car.
Kristian Elvefors, Volvo Car UK Managing Director, said: “We are immensely proud of what the XC40 has achieved and grateful to What Car? for this latest award. The XC40 is our best-selling model in the UK and perfectly encapsulates what our brand stands for in terms of design, customer appeal and the application of new technologies for better performance, safety and connectivity.”
The What Car? Awards also recognised Volvo’s pioneering work in safeguarding cabin air quality, with a runners-up commendation for its Advanced Interior Air Cleaner in the Technology Award category. The world-first system, available now on many UK Volvo models, has proved its effectiveness in filtering out up to 95% of PM 2.5 micro-particulates from air entering the car through the ventilation system – particulates identified by the World Health Organisation as highly damaging to human health.