Volvo plant in Belgium starts making XC40

By CARSIFU | 27 November 2017


GHENT: Volvo Cars plant in Ghent, Belgium, has started production of the first customer-bound XC40 small SUV.

The new XC40, for which the company has already received over 13,000 orders, is Volvo’s first ever small premium SUV. The first customers can expect to take delivery early next year.

With the XC40, Volvo Cars enters the fastest growing segment in the automotive industry and the car paves the way for continued sales and revenue growth for the company. Joining its larger XC60 and XC90 cousins, the XC40 completes Volvo’s global SUV line-up.

New Volvo XC40 - exterior


The new XC40 is the first model on Volvo's new modular small car platform, the Compact Modular Architecture (CMA), which will underpin all upcoming cars in the 40 series. The CMA platform, co-developed with Geely, will provide Volvo with the necessary synergies and economies of scale for the small premium car segment.

Preparations for the production start of the XC40 in Ghent have been ongoing for a long time. Considerable investments in recent years have transformed the Ghent plant into a global export hub for CMA-based cars, including an 8,000 square metre addition to the body shop.

The 'Beast" at work.
'The Beast' at work.


A total of 363 new robots have been installed, including one which has been nicknamed “the Beast” by Ghent employees. This large robot, unique within Volvo Cars’ global manufacturing system, is used to lift lower car bodies to a conveyor belt close to the ceiling of the plant.

Ghent is one of two car plants operated by Volvo Cars in Europe and has produced Volvos since 1965. Until recently it produced the first generation of Volvo’s best-selling XC60 mid-size SUV, while the Ghent plant also builds the V40 and V40 Cross Country small hatchbacks as well as the S60 and V60.

Volvo Cars’ other European plant is located in Torslanda in its home country Sweden. The company also operates two vehicle plants in China, while a US plant is under construction in South Carolina and slated for opening in the second half of 2018.

Pre-production of the new Volvo XC40 in the manufacturing plant in Ghent

Pre-production of the new Volvo XC40 in the manufacturing plant in Ghent

Pre-production of the new Volvo XC40 in the manufacturing plant in Ghent

Pre-production of the new Volvo XC40 in the manufacturing plant in Ghent

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