Carshop First drives: Volvo XC40 Launched in SA

We're at the launch of Volvo's latest style wagon. This one is compact, a raised-for-rugged sake C-Segment hatchback with smatterings of black plastic underlining its flanks. There's large traces of the XC90 design here, in an almost-square format with a bluff nose and a flat arse, blessed with Mjolnir for headlamps and ornate boomerangs for rear lighting.

The roof is black and dissects the C Pillar to meet the raised hipline (where an R-Design badge lives) and the result is well... hip, especially when viewed in profile where you'll appreciate that this line originates at the clamshell bonnet. Wide trapezoidal exhaust tips at each end of the rear diffuser finish off a very attractive, mildly raised rump.

Being an R-Design model our test car comes with massive 20 inch alloy hoops, two-tone and shod in Pirelli P-Zero performance rubber. Clamber aboard and you'll elicit your best George Takei impression with an emphatic "Oh my!” Tactile surfaces and exciting patterns abound for the sole purpose of surprise and delight, again in line with the rest of the Volvo range so proceedings are dominated by a large vertical touchscreen, charged with many functions but also tasked with sending audio to the Harmon/Kardon speakers.

There's large amounts of leather and suede and ours is further emboldened with a lava colour treatment; I mean bright orange floor mats and door cards. Brave. If you're the type to visit farms and such, I'd worry.

The floor is lava!

Thumb the T5 into life and it's the familiar sound of a petrol-powered five cylinder that greets you with 185kW and 350Nm. Naturally the XC40 is all-wheel drive, comes with a Geartronic auto 'box and with this petrol mill can leap to 100kph in just 6.4 seconds.

Look, this is the flagship of the XC40 range so at R644,100 it isn't for cheap thrills. You can however get yourself into an XC40 for as little as R486,500 if you're content with an entry-level T3; that's a manual Momentum model with 115kW and 265Nm, but that will require waiting till later this year. As it stands now we reckon the current entry-level is the pick of the litter at R599,000 – that’s a D4 Geartronic AWD in Momentum trim to the tune of a still respectable 140kW and 400Nm, good for a 7.9 second sprint to 100kph.

However, having seen it in all its R-Design glory I’d personally be loathe to have it any other way. This will have to do battle with BMW’s new X2 and Jaguar’s E-Pace and to be honest they’re all in the same stylishly appointed ballpark.

Maybe it’s my creeping sensibilities swaying me to the feisty Scandinavian but it’s the one I desire most.

Pricing:

Available now