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Sedan’s youthful attractiveness enhanced
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Comprehensive list of standard equipment, including leather seats
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Sport steering wheel and gear knob for flagship S40 T5
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Changes adds up to making the S40 a young, cool, urban sedan
The popular and top-selling S40 sedan range of Volvo Car South Africa has undergone quite a number of “refreshments” – from a new centre roof panel for all derivatives to a sporty looking chunky three-spoke steering wheel and special gear knob for the flagship S40 T5.
Drivers of the flagship S40 T5 can now also enjoy their favourite music from their Ipod or MP3 player in the car by simply connecting the device to a plug in the centre console.
Volvo Cars has used the S40’s characteristic attributes such as its youthful and dynamic nature, spacious cabin with its cockpit forward design, minimalist and clean interior and dynamic handling as a base to build an even better motoring package that would suit most tastes and pockets.
The S40 2.0 with the new 4-cylinder engine that is being launched at this occasion is only one of four derivatives that share the cool looks, compact dimensions and fun-to-drive features of an award-winning car body. Its appeal is enhanced by features such as:
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Great handling;
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Responsive control;
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Intelligent safety;
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Simplistic and ergonomic interior design with typical Scandinavian overtones; and
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Sporty, dynamic performance that fits its exterior design, best illustrated by the 162 kW S40 T5.
All this adds up to making the S40 a young, cool, urban sedan.
A demanding target market
“Captivating buyers from a target market that predominantly consists of 25 to 35 year old singles, pre-family couples or young families that are career minded and appreciate good design, fashion and style, is a hard task in an environment that is extremely competitive,” says Michelle Naudé, marketing manager of Volvo Car South Africa.
“The Volvo S40 is a car that could fulfill yet another requirement of a large part of this market – one which differentiates them from the masses, but still gives them a premium experience of urban entertainment.”
In its quest to answer to the choices and desires of a younger audience, Volvo has stayed true to its core values by giving unwavering attention to safety, environmental friendliness and the offering of premium quality in it products.
Changes for the next model year
While the changes for the coming model year for S40, and its estate sibling the V50, are not vast, it still consists of a number of valuable and important additions to the offer that will allow Volvo Car South Africa to further strengthen the competitiveness of its cars.
The changes are mainly concerning design, safety and the sound systems. Focus has been mainly on the interior design, where inter alia a new overhead console panel has been added, similar to the console found in the bigger, all-new S80 model that is to be launched locally later this year.
The panel contains switches for front seat reading lights, compartment illumination, open/closing of sun roof, mass movement sensor button, and seat belt and PACOS warning lights. The purpose of the redesign was to give it a more premium and higher tactile quality.
Volvo Cars has added a sport steering wheel and gear knob as standard equipment to the S40 and V50 T5 models. The three-spoke steering wheel has an aluminium inlay at the top of the rim to match the aluminium trim components elsewhere in the interior of the car.
The gear knob features perforated leather with an alumium inlay.
Both can be ordered as options for the other derivatives in the range, or ordered separately as optional equipment.
In the case of the S40 2.0 leather seats has been added as standard equipment, included in the recommended retail price of R215 000.
The whole S40 range also benefits from the following changes:
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New interior rear view mirrors that are slimmer, but wider, offering better visibility to both front and rear, and contributing to a safer driving experience (standard equipment);
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The Blind Spot Information System (BLIS), which warns the driver if another vehicle is within an area of 3 m on the side and 9,5 m behind him – his “blind spot”, is being offered as optional equipment for the whole range;
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Water repellant glass on the outer rear view mirrors also improves safety by making water float evenly over the surface to enhance the rearward vision of the driver. This is an optional feature;
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Two new vibrant exterior colours in the S40 range: Maple Red and Orinoco Blue;
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New wheels for almost the whole range; and
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The ability to play your Ipod or MP3 music through the High Performance Sound System which is standard equipment in the S40 T5. It simply needs to be plugged into the raised storage bin behind the free-floating centre console in the S40 T5. Other models in the range can also be ordered with this feature as optional equipment.
Wheels
The new S40 2.0 and V50 comes standard with the Cygnus 16 inch wheel, while the S40 and V50 2.4i now has the Cursa 16 inch wheel as standard equipment.
The S40 and V50 2.0D features the 16 inch Crius wheel in its standard equipment list. A new 17 inch wheel, the sporty looking Scotia, has been specified as standard equipment for the range-topping S40 and V50 T5.
Prices
The new Volvo S40, with added features such as leather seats, is launched with a very competitive recommended retail price of R215 000. Volvo Car South Africa has also managed to keep the prices of its other S40 models very competitive in a slightly more difficult economic climate.
The recommended retail prices of the rest of the range, with the added features, are:
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S40 2.4i (manual) R235 000
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S40 2.4i (Geartronic) R245 000
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S40 2.0D (manual only) R240 000
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S40 T5 (manual) R270 000
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S40 T5 (Geartronic) R280 000
