Volvo will introduce an all-new petrol hybrid powertrain on the S90 to sit below the range topping T8. The new unit, featuring a 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol motor paired with an electric motor, is currently under development and will be introduced on Volvo’s new CMA platform, which will underpin future compact offerings from the Swedish automaker.

Initial speculation had ruled out the smaller motor for the SPA platform despite the CMA platform sharing common elements. Now Peter Mertens, senior vice president  of R&D, Volvo has suggested that the new hybrid powertrain could make its way into the company’s flagship sedan as a less powerful two-wheel-drive alternative to the 401bhp T8 Twin Engine which gets four-wheel drive.

“That engine [the 1.5] will definitely be used in the 40 models [believed to be S40, V40 and XC40] and 60 models – so it goes across CMA and is also suitable for our larger Scalable Platform Architecture (SPA),” said Mertens. “I could how it would form part of a different Twin Engine combination – and that could see use in the S90.”

Mertens also confirmed that Volvo was already testing prototypes of the S90 equipped with the new hybrid powertrain.

The new 1.5-litre motor is part of the same family of engines as Volvo’s new 2.0-litre units. The unit will replace the existing 1.6-litre petrol motors internationally. The engine will also be shared by Volvo’s parent company, Geely, in both turbocharged and naturally aspirated forms. However, Volvo will be using the motor in turbocharged form only.