Volvo Plans Electric Minivan, Report Says

• Volvo plans to offer a luxury electric MPV in 2023, CarNewsChina reports, suggesting possible plans for the use of another model under the Geely umbrella for the effort.

• The Zeekr 009, revealed late in 2022, could serve as the basis of the Volvo model, offering as much as 511 miles of range courtesy of a 140-kWh battery.

• Luxury MPVs are a popular segment in China, with a number of automakers (including Buick) offering exclusive models in the country's domestic market.

For quite some time Volvo has seemed like the kind of automaker that would have success selling a minivan if it offered one. The company has certainly had a grip on the premium station wagon segment for decades, and we've sometimes heard car shoppers wonder aloud why the automaker hadn't offered a minivan or something close to a large crossover in the style of the Mercedes-Benz R-Class.

CarNewsChina now reports the automaker, part of Geely's constantly growing group of brands, is planning just such a model, and that it will be electric.

The publication revealed a screenshot of a product planning slide, alleged to be from a press briefing in China by President of Volvo Cars Greater China Sales Company Qin Peiji.

The electric MPV is likely to be based on the Zeekr 009, revealed just a few months ago, and is likely to be offered solely in China, where luxury MPVs have been popular for a couple of decades.

What could such a model offer?