Driven: Volvo V40

What does it take to make car dealers happy? Giving them a model that they’ve been crying out for since 1997 is probably a good start, and according to Volvo UK’s MD Nick Connor, his retailers are pretty chuffed with the arrival of the V40. They should be; it’s a solid and stylish car that won’t rewrite the premium hatchback segment, but will give them their first five-door C-segment hatchback since the 440 was axed 15 years ago. I doubt it’s going to steal too many sales away from the dominant German rivals – the BMW 1-Series, Mercedes A-Class and Audi A3 – but it will certainly help Volvo’s annual sales. Connor said he reckons they’ll shift about 2,500 before the end of the year, and do 12,500 during 2013. Here’s the interesting bit for me: when Volvo sold the 440 it was an 80,000-a-year brand in Britain, but now it doesn’t even do half that. While the German trio has gone from strength to strength with new model variants every six months and no niche left unfilled, Volvo hasn’t even tried to keep up and is now pretty niche in itself.