The era of the boxy Volvo 240 is long gone, and nothing emphasizes that point more than the popularity of the C30. This small (by Volvo standards) hatchback offers the quality associated with the Volvo name, with a sportier feel and a size that yields better efficiency, but with the growing demand for performance minded models, Volvo aims to take a swipe at the sport compact market in the European market as soon as 2009.

The C30 shares a chassis platform with the Ford Focus RS, which is a Europe-only model, even though American Ford enthusiasts have been clamoring to get their hands on a US market Focus RS for quite some time. The Focus RS is equipped with a turbocharger, 2.5 liter in-line five cylinder, and we can expect to see the same power plant in a performance trimline of the C30, but Volvo has indicated that the Volvo will have the advantage of all wheel drive.

The current C30 is aimed at competing with models such as the VW Golf and the Mini Cooper, and with a price starting around $23,000, the base model C30 is fairly inexpensive, so should the C30 performance model make it to the States, the turbo AWD C30 could offer a sort of luxury-coupe opposition to the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and Subaru STi.

Volvo has made several moves to make their models more attractive to younger buyers, and this possible high performance C30 could put Volvo into the sport compact limelight.