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The Volvo XC40 serves an important role in the company’s lineup. Technically it’s not the brand’s cheapest vehicle—the EX30 narrowly undercuts it by about $1,000—but it is the cheapest gas-powered one, and the third-best-selling nameplate the Swedish marque has going for it here in the States. The XC40 has also been around for a minute, with the first examples hitting dealers back in 2018. A refresh is in order, then, and that’s exactly what Volvo will be doing to ring in 2027.
The 2027 Volvo XC40 brings a revised exterior, new interior tech, and updated trim and upholstery options in an attempt to keep things fresh. The most obvious changes are indeed on the outside, with the XC40 sporting newly shaped headlights that more closely resemble those of the rest of the lineup. Volvo calls the sideways-T arrangement of the LED runners “Thor’s Hammer,” and they now extend from the fringes of the fascia right up to the grille. It’s a subtle change, but one that aligns more closely with Volvo’s current aesthetic.
Around back, the tailgate has been re-sculpted, with more prominent creases running horizontally across the center, and the LED graphic within the brake lights has also been tweaked.
Volvo
Inside, the formerly 9-inch infotainment touchscreen running Google software has now grown to 11.2 inches, and extends from the center of the dash rather than sitting within it. This display still uses Google services, now including Gemini, which should make it better at correctly answering natural-language requests. (Something iPhone-toting Siri users like myself could only dream of.) The XC40 gains a new Arianne Cardamom upholstery color option, seen below, which is light-toned but much warmer than the usual Blond leather.
The new XC40’s most meaningful upgrade has arguably been lavished on its ADAS platform, which now benefits from a comprehensive set of new hardware. The radars around front and back have been replaced with new units, as have the front camera and all parking cameras, and then there are also 12 new ultrasonic sensors, all to help the vehicle and its driver ascertain a better sense of their surroundings.
The XC40’s interior seen in light- and dark-toned leather colorways. Volvo
Because of all that new gear, the XC40 gets a few tricks it didn’t have before, like Door Opening Alert, and the 360-degree camera can now actually display a 3D image. Self-steering Pilot Assist is now capable of handling lane changes and will “follow the road more smoothly,” in Volvo’s words, which sounds nice.
If you’re wondering what these changes mean for the all-electric EX40—known in a past life as the XC40 Recharge—the press release where Volvo dumped all of this info on the new XC40 doesn’t mention that model once. That omission would seem to back up a very recent report that the EX40 won’t return, and will instead be replaced next year with the EX50, a slightly larger battery-powered SUV built on the bones of the new EX60. We like the EX60 quite a bit, so that’s probably a good thing.
Volvo neglected to detail pricing on the 2027 XC40, but the 2026 version starts at $41,295 delivered. Every XC40 is powered by a 2.0-liter turbo-four with mild hybrid assist, making 197 horsepower in front-wheel-drive models or 247 hp in all-wheel-drive ones. 2027 examples should begin reaching customers early next year.
Volvo
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Backed by a decade of covering cars and consumer tech, Adam Ismail is a Senior Editor at The Drive, focused on curating and producing the site’s slate of daily stories.
