Volvo's excellent SUV lineup is currently one of the market leaders and is poised to be the best in the industry. The lineup includes the XC90, XC60, and the newly introduced XC40. Like its German rivals, BMW and Mercedes, Volvo may not be content with its current crop of traditional SUV models and may look to fill niche gaps in the range. According to AutoExpress, Volvo has recently trademarked the XC50 name. This could hint at an SUV coupe model between the XC60 and XC40.

The XC50 would likely be a more coupe-like version of the XC40, which could compete against models such as the Mercedes GLC Coupe and BMW X2/X4. The goal for the XC50 is to do what BMW and Mercedes have done with their SUV coupe models: cover as many segments as possible. Lex Kerssemakers, Volvo's senior vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, explained: "We cover 98 per cent of the segments, so it's more likely we'll go further into the depths than expand." We know the new S60 sedan will be the next car that Volvo reveals, but this rumored XC50 could arrive soon after.

Volvo's plans to expand its 40 Series cars won't just stop with the XC40. The company is also working on a V40 hatchback as an entry-level model to compete against the Volkswagen Golf. Such a car probably wouldn't work in the US, but it isn't out of the realm of possibility we could get a sedan version to compete against the Audi A3 and upcoming Mercedes A-Class. With the current popularity of SUVs, we predict this new XC50 will be Volvo's priority for now.