Volvo was still under Ford’s management when it introduced the facelifted version for the V50 lineup in 2007, and while it brought minimal look changes, it improved the safety systems.
While in the U.S., the signs of the financial crisis already started to be seen by big companies. In Europe, everything was business as usual. Ford tried to transform Volvo into a money-making machine, and while it introduced the facelifted version, it didn’t go over the fence with that. It improved what was needed.

With a slight change on the outside, the Swedish brand salesman had a hard time convincing the customers that there was a new V50 in town. There was a different grille at the front, black instead of silver, and a slightly modified bumper on the lower side. In the back, the vertically mounted taillights featured a smaller, reversing lights area. The big novelty was that the car was available with HID Xenon headlights instead of the halogen-type ones, which remained fitted as standard.

Inside, Volvo tried to improve the material’s quality and worked on the fit and finish around the cabin. But since it was based on the same platform as the Ford Focus, its wheelbase remained the same, and it could hardly compete with other premium carmakers from the same segment.

Under the hood, the carmaker released more power for most of its engine versions but axed the 2.5-liter turbo-diesel version. Thus, the only AWD V50 on the lineup remained the 2.5-liter turbocharged gasoline unit, which was unavailable on the non-facelifted version.