The Volvo C30 is a 3-door hatchback from Volvo, built from 2006 to 2013, in the decade of stability control, dual-clutch gearboxes and the first serious hybrids. Under the bonnet: Petrol engine. Simon Lamarre drew it. The total made was 209,510.
How it came about
The Volvo C30 is a three-door, front-engine, front-wheel-drive premium compact hatchback manufactured and marketed by Volvo Cars from 2006 to 2013, in a single generation. Powered by inline-four and straight-five engines, the C30 is a variant of the Volvo S40/V50/C70 range, sharing the same Ford C1/Volvo P1 platform. Volvo marketed the C30 as a premium hatchback / sports coupe. The C30's rear styling and frameless glass rear hatch recall Volvo's earlier P1800 ES and Volvo 480.
The hardware
Power comes from Petrol engine; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. It weighs 1331 -. It shifts through a 5-speed Getrag M56 Manual transmission / manual / 6-speed Getrag M66 manual / 5-speed Aisin Aisin AF33 transmission / AW55-50 Automatic transmission / automatic / 6-speed Aisin AWT. The layout matters: the engine drives the front wheels, the packaging choice that gives a small car a big cabin. The wheelbase is 2640 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Family and rivals
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Volvo 480; its successor was the Volvo V40 II / Volvo EX30; assembly was at Ghent (VCG), Belgium. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Nissan Qashqai, the Audi R8, the Kia Sportage — show what else the money bought that year. Its Volvo stablemates include the Volvo 144 and the Volvo 264 TE.
What it costs now
The money question first: $13,300–$22,900 is the typical asking range today, and running it — fuel and maintenance at its age — costs about $4,048–$5,869 a year. Insurance sits around $1,490–$2,310 a year. The figures are class-level estimates from the federal record, with the formula on the methodology page; the model-year pages carry complaints, recalls and repair costs year by year.