(June 16, 2011) The Volvo S40 sedan and V50 wagon — compact cars that MotorwayAmerica editors have found intriguing over the years declaring in 2005 that the Volvo S40 "combines fun, safety and 'Volvoness' in one sharp package" — are being discontinued, according to Volvo.

Volvo has decided to drop the pair from the lineup for the 2012 model year in the U.S. Both are derived from the same platform. The second-generation Volvo S40 debuted as a 2004 model, while the V50 came in 2005.

Both models have struggled to attract American car buyers — the automaker had reshuffled trim names and content offerings to make each more attractive over time. Even so, the S40 and V50 have seen double-digit decreases in year-over-year sales, which are down 29.5% for the S40 and 59.1% for the V50.

Only 2,500 units of the two vehicles were sold in the first five months of 2011.

"The S40 and V50 are great cars," said Volvo spokesman James Hope, "[but] our focus, however, needs to be on our volume vehicles, specifically the S60, XC60, XC90, S80 and XC70."

The C30 and C70 convertible will continue to be offered, says Hope, even though neither is a particularly strong seller in the U.S. The C30 hatchback will be Volvo's only compact entry in 2012.