The first customer-bound XC40s have begun to roll off the production line at Volvo's Ghent plant in Belgium.

Over 13,000 orders have already been received for the new XC40 - Volvo’s first ever small SUV - and the first of these are expected to be delivered early next year. The new car joins its larger XC60 and XC90 cousins to complete Volvo’s global SUV line-up.

The arrival of the first XC40 was greeted by the Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, as well as senior Volvo officials including Chief Executive and President Håkan Samuelsson, and Javier Varela, Senior Vice President Manufacturing and Logistics.

“This is a proud day for Ghent, the company and all our employees here,” said Mr Samuelsson. “Our people have put in long days and many hours to prepare the plant for the start of XC40 production and they have done a great job. The XC40 represents a bright future for Ghent and for Volvo Cars.”

The XC40 is the first model to use Volvo’s new modular small-car platform co-developed with Geely - the Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) - which will underpin all forthcoming cars in the 40 series.

Preparations for the production of the XC40 in Ghent have been ongoing for some time with investments in recent years transforming the plant into a global export hub for CMA-based cars, including an 8,000 square metre addition to the body shop. 363 new robots have been installed, including a large one nicknamed “the Beast”, which is used to lift lower car bodies to a conveyor belt close to the ceiling of the plant.

The new Volvo XC40 SUV is available to order now, with on-the-road prices starting at £27,905 for the T3 Momentum version, rising to £40,355 for the T5 AWD First Edition automatic.