Volvo WILL build a luxury car to take on the Mercedes S-Class

Despite previously saying they won’t build a high-end luxury car, Volvo Chairman Li Shufu has said such a car is now in the planning.

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Volvo has done a lot right – and not much wrong – since Geely took over the reigns from Ford.

With new cars like the V40, a new range of 4-cylinder engines and a new design direction – previewed by the stunning Volvo Concept Coupe – the Swedes look to be on a roll.

But their strategy of pointing their cars at premium car lovers in the mainstream segment seemed to have taken a left turn with a revelation by Geely and Volvo Chairman, Li Shufu, who has declared Volvo are to build a luxury car to take on the might of the Mercedes S-Class, Audi A8, BMW 7-Series and Jaguar XJ.

That declaration is completely at odds with a statement from Volvo boss, Hakan Samuelsson, who stated in April that Volvo no longer intends developing an F-Segment car, despite Volvo previewing such a car with the Volvo Concept You (pictured above) and Concept Universe cars.

What isn’t clear is how Volvo are going to produce a credible high-end luxury car when they will only have 4-cylinder engines to play with. The new Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) platform – which will underpin the majority of Volvos going forward – can probably be stretched to create a luxury-sized car, but how will potential buyers react to such a car with just 4 cylinders?

Still, it could be that Li Shufu is planning the new range-topping Volvo – perhaps the Volvo S100 – just for the Chinese market, where small-engined luxury cars are more acceptable thanks to high taxation on big engines.

But it does seem an odd move.