The first customer-bound example of the new Volvo XC40 has rolled off the Swedish brand’s production line in Ghent, Belgium, with first deliveries set to take place early next year.
The XC40, which will take on the likes of the BMW X1 and Mercedes-Benz GLA, is scheduled to launch in South Africa in April 2018.
The new crossover is the first model to run on Volvo’s fresh modular small car CMA platform (to be shared with owners Geely), which will go on to underpin all upcoming cars in the 40 cluster.
Volvo has upgraded the Ghent plant into a global export hub for CMA-based cars, with a total of 363 new robots recently installed. In addition to building the new XC40, the factory will continue to produce the V40 and V40 Cross Country as well as the S60 and V60.
