Volvo C30 breaks cover

Here are the first pictures of Volvo's new C30 small hatch, and we reckon it could warrant a place at the right end of Top Gear's Cool Wall.


There's no mistaking the C30 is a Volvo from the front end or the pronounced shoulder running along beneath the window line, but there's plenty of muscular style thrown in too.

At the rear, the tailgate is an all-glass affair, with lights wrapped around either side.

The C30's shape is almost unchanged from the Design Concept car that was first seen at the Detroit motor show in January this year.

Inside, the C30 provides plenty of space for four adults, the rear two getting individual seats.

Volvo promises a whole host of options for customers to create their personal take on the C30.

Engine options include three petrol and two turbodiesel units.

There are 1.6-litre petrol and diesel engines, a 2.4-litre D5 turbodiesel, and two T5 turbo petrols with 178bhp and 217bhp.

Ride and handling promise to be excellent thanks to the C30 using the same chassis as the Ford Focus.

As you'd expect of a Volvo, safety is also high on the list of priorities, and the C30 will come with anti-whiplash headrests, six airbags and the option of Volvo's BLIS blind-spot warning system.

No word on prices yet, but the C30 goes on sale in the UK in January 2007.

© Source: original article on topgear.com