The new Volvo C30 will make its debut at next week's Frankfurt motor show alongside the new C70 and S60 Concept.

Sporting a bold new look and offering customers even greater levels of customisation, the new Volvo C30 will appeal to buyers who place considerable demands on the design, driving properties and personality of their vehicles.

"Since its introduction in 2006, the Volvo C30 has become highly appreciated for its unique appearance. This applies in particular to the rear. With the new front, it feels as though everything has fallen neatly into place and that the car's entire personality has been boosted to an entirely new level," says Daniel Backman, Product Manager for the new Volvo C30.

The new exterior is also a better match for the way the C30 drives - challenging, direct and with a whole lot of attitude," continues Daniel Backman.

Extensive exterior changes
The Volvo C30's entire front has been redesigned, including body panels such as the front wings. This gives the car a radical new appearance from the front, carving out a distinctive personality which clearly separates the new C30 from the Volvo S40 and V50.

"By integrating greater depth into the design language, the front has become more dramatic and expressive. Along with the angled lines of the front bumper, the new headlamps, drawn offset and up, reinforce the impression of speed and sportiness," says Fedde Talsma, Exterior Chief Designer at Volvo Cars.

The new, larger iron mark floats in the centre of the grille, which also features a new 'honeycomb' pattern exclusive to the C30 range. The air intake has also grown in size and resembles the intake in the XC60.

"The fact that the C30 has enhanced its visual volume and self-confidence is entirely in line with Volvo Cars' design strategy. At the same time, the C30 has a one of a kind expression. The new honeycomb grille, for instance, means it takes just a quick glance in the rear-view mirror to see that the car filling your view is the new Volvo C30," continues Fedde Talsma.

Although the biggest design changes have taken place at the front, the rear also sports the same deep new lines and detailing. The contours are dynamic and more defined than before. The black plastic panels have been replaced with the extended use of body colour, which can be specified in the same or a contrasting colour, to forge a closer visual contact between the car and the road surface.

The other new exterior features:

• Elegant and trendy new body colour, Orange Flame Metallic;
• Visible exhaust tailpipe in the T5 model;
• Two new wheel options - and for the first time, white wheels are available!
• The option to choose five different colours on the lower trim - the C30 Contrast Colour Collection.

Matching interior updates
The new Volvo C30 also offers a range of new interior options. Among other things, there is now an all-new colour combination known as Espresso/Blond, consisting of a dark brown upper section and a blond, fresh shade on the lower door sides. The blond tone is somewhere between grey and beige and is an expression of Volvo's strong Scandinavian design tradition.
The Espresso/Blond interior permits the integration of energetic new highlight colours such as orange, green and blue in the fabrics, as well as a new colour for leather upholster, Cranberry.

"We know that a large proportion, almost half, of all C30 customers make detailed interior choices. They want to decide for themselves what their car should look like and are not interested in readymade packages. The new C30 gives them a range of fresh, modern style cues in terms of both colour and fabric to choose between," explains Maria Uggla, Program Chief Designer Colour & Trim at Volvo Cars.

"We have also focused on making it easier for customers to match exterior design elements with interior trim in an attractive way, something that has been made that much easier with the new Espresso/Blond colour combination," continues Maria Uggla.

Yet another new feature is the luggage compartment cover in the rear, which uses a new material and a new graphic pattern to further enhance the car's modern image.

New centre stack - Oyster Burst Déco
Volvo's exclusive centre stack is already available in a range of colours and textures. Now a new option is being added, Oyster Burst Déco.

Volvo's design team was inspired by the surface texture of the classic Swedish Hagström guitars that enjoyed world renown in the hands of stars such as Elvis Presley back in the 1950s. Hagström used the word "burst" in many of its model names and gave their guitars a pattern that shifted subtly from light to dark and back again. Just like in the new centre stack of the Volvo C30.

New expressive accessory styling kit
The Volvo C30 also meets the wishes of buyers who want to individualise their vehicles on the outside. A youthful new accessory styling kit with a bolder, less polished style gives the C30 even more attitude. The kit includes foglamp décor, a front skidplate, side scuff plates with engraved C30 logo and a rear skidplate with a stylish aluminium look. For D5 and T5 two 90 mm tail pipes in polished stainless steel are added to underline the powerful engine.

The exterior detailing is complemented by a dramatic interior where the pattern of the floor mats forms a world map. The aluminium centre stack, including inner door handles, is inspired by an ancient nautical chart and a sea adventure map. Its pattern shows longitude and latitude lines as well as dashed direction lines to further emphasise the explorer theme.

New sport chassis with excellent characteristics
The new optional sport chassis for the Volvo C30 is considerably sharper, with stiffer, more distinct properties than previously.

• The steering is more precise owing to the installation of stiffer bushings.
• The steering ratio is lower, giving 10% faster response to steering wheel input.
• Spring stiffness has been increased by no less than 30% in order to increase the car's poise in enthusiastic driving.
• The dampers too are stiffer and are now of the exclusive mono-tube type that builds up pressure much more quickly.
• The roll stabilizers are stiffer to reduce any leaning tendency when taking corners.
• The new sport chassis is available in all C30 versions except for 1.6D C30 DRIVe.

Drivelines - considerable freedom of choice here too
The Volvo C30's sporty chassis and steering can be combined with a particularly wide range of drivelines covering the full spectrum of needs from sparkling acceleration and performance to diesel engines with class-leading low fuel consumption and environmental impact.

C30 DRIVe with start/stop function
The Volvo C30 1.6D DRIVe is available with an advanced start/stop function that switches off the engine when the car is at a standstill, for instance at traffic lights or in a traffic queue. This cuts fuel consumption to as little as 3.9 l/100 km while carbon dioxide emissions are just 104 g CO2/km, the lowest in this segment. It is due for arrival in Australia in January next year.

Note to Editors
The updated Volvo C30 is due for arrival in Australia next March (2010).

Volvo Safety
In 1927 Volvo's founders Assar Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larson stated that: "Cars are driven by people. The guiding principle behind everything we make at Volvo therefore, is - and must remain - safety."

Volvo's philosophy today is still very much focussed on safety but is also driven by other principles such as the environment, innovation, quality, design and in creating cars that are as exciting to look at as they are to experience.

Every Volvo puts into practice over 80 years of 'know how' in developing safe vehicles. Volvo's models have, over the years, been equipped with an ever growing list of safety solutions from crumple zones, safety cages, airbags and whiplash protection to systems for dynamic stability and driving control. In particular, Volvo has led the way in safety innovation, preventing accidents and injuries and continually pushing the boundaries.

This is evident in its Mobility 2020 Vision, that no occupant of any of its vehicles will be seriously or fatally injured by the year 2020.

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