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Read more about the 2019 Volvo XC40 Review and First Drive at AutoGuide.com.Perhaps no automaker’s transformation over the past five years has been quite so dramatic as that undergone by Volvo.
Reinvigorated by the deep pockets and strategic investments of parent company Geely, the former Swedish safety-niks have spun the brand on its axis to place design and style on an even plane with airbags and moose tests. The arrival of the 2019 Volvo XC40 — the company’s first shot at a pint-size people mover — bookends an SUVstrategy that began with the XC90 by offering first-time luxury buyers both something more and something less at the same time.
Whereas the dominant trend in European sedanand crossover planning has been to slice a similarly shaped sausage into three to four specific lengths intended to be palatable to customers at each end of the pricing spectrum, Volvo has instead elected to walk a different, more extroverted path with the XC40. It’s a bold move, especially given the praise that has been lauded on its larger XC60 and XC90 siblings, but for a nameplate that needs to stand out in a sea of same, it was the right decision to make.