As the Volvo C30 comes to the end of the road, Volvo Cars takes a look back and celebrates the success of the sporty hatchback that sold almost 210,000 cars worldwide.

The C30 started life in 2001 at the Detroit Motor Show, with the launch of the Volvo Safety Concept Car. On sale for just seven years - the C30 was a major design departure for Volvo when it was launched in 2006. It has since developed a hardcore following - achieving cult status, particularly among a younger audience.

The C30 was the starting point for Volvo Cars' leadership in active safety. About 15 of the advanced technical solutions found in today's Volvo models were first seen in the Volvo SCC, such as forward collision warning, BLIS (Blind Spot Information System) and lane Departure Warning and Driver Alert.

Utilising the versatile C30 for another concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2007, Volvo Cars launched the Volvo ReCharge Concept. A plug-in hybrid with individual electric wheel motors, this modified C30 had batteries that can be recharged via a regular electrical outlet and can be driven around 100km on battery power alone before a four-cylinder Flexifuel engine kicks in to power the car and recharge the battery.

In 2010, Polestar created a monster 394bhp AWD road car. The Performance Concept Prototype was the result of what happens when a Championship-winning team of race engineers and designers get free-rein to design and engineer a car.

With almost 210,000 C30s sold worldwide, if parked bumper to bumper, they would stretch almost 900km - or an equivalent distance from London to Munich. If they were stacked on top of each other, they would reach the Thermosphere - or as tall as 934 Eiffel Towers.