Volvo has sounded the death knell for its signature five-cylinder engines, with a new range of four-cylinder units being introduced for better efficiency and production costs.
The new range of engines will all come under the banner of Volvo Engine Architecture (VEA) and replace so called 'legacy' engines left over from the Swedish company's ownership by Ford.
The engines have been primarily designed to function with the new modular platform that will be introduced, though they will be compatible with the current Volvo offerings with production set to begin this May.
Exact details are yet to be confirmed but CompleteCar.ie has learned that the base engine is likely to be a 1.8- or 2.0-litre unit (in the case of petrol) that will offer between 140- and 280hp through interchangeable turbochargers and varying degrees of electric power.
Lower power, more efficient units will feature 'mild' hybrid technology to boost fuel economy and emissions while the forthcoming XC90 SUV will likely use a 280hp petrol engine with a plug-in hybrid system boosting power to that of the current V8 powerplant.
The new EU6 compliant engines will be mated to either one of two manual units or an eight-speed automatic, believed to be a ZF transmission.