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FIRST DRIVE: NEW VOLVO S40 Volvo aims upmarket with the all new S40 Volvo is positioning the new S40 to compete with the likes of Audi and BMW in the fiercely competitive compact executive sector. Simon Harris reports from the models launch in southern Spain T HE fanfare surrounding the launch of the original Volvo S40 in 1996 was tempered slightly by some indifferent quality on early cars. The shared project with Mitsubishi (the Carisma is built at the same plant in the Netherlands) which also spawned the handsome V40 estate sold relatively well, but never really made a big impression in the upper-medium sector. Although Volvo rooted out the quality issues within a couple of years, and the current S40 and V40 now seem excellent value, a change of strategy was needed for the new model following a change of circumstances. Volvo is now part of the Ford empire and a fully paid-up member of the Premier Automotive Group along with Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover. The company sees itself as a genuine rival to the likes of BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and even its sister company, Jaguar. This was first seen with the S60, launched in 2000, which heralded a dynamic new styling direction for Volvo, intended to appeal to a younger audience. As the new S40 marks the end of Volvos partnership with Mitsubishi - the new car uses the C 1 platform engineered jointly by Volvo, Ford and Mazda - it is placed firmly in the compact executive sector, and Volvo believes any premium car under £20,000 is fair game for the S40. The first fruit of the C1 platform was the Ford Focus C-MAX, while the Mazda3 will also appear at about the same time as the new S40, with the V50 Sportswagon following shortly afterwards. When the new S40 goes on sale in the UK in March, Volvo will offer a 170bhp five-cylinder 2.4-litre petrol engine, as well as a 220bhp 2.5-litre T5 and a 136bhp 2.0-litre common rail diese ...
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