New Volvo XC60: Wonderful Creature
Two words lurking in my head whenever my eyes look at a new Volvo model. Yes, because the restyling of the Swedish brand has lately attracted a lot of attention.
Here are the main reasons:
Needless to say, the previous version of the XC60 has far exceeded its sales expectations, ranking in the top mid-size SUV premium in Europe (EMEA) for the last 3 years, thus becoming one of the major rivals of the German competition. And then let’s face it: the new XC60 is a real gem.
Starting with the design, which at first impact definitely invokes the XC90, with frontal features featuring like the front grille and especially the beautiful T-shaped headlights (or more commonly called “Thor hammer”). But differentiating it to the older sister we find more stuff at the back, where the lights coming from the V90 series stand important, “stretching” toward the mid part of the hatchback, thus gaining its own personality. Clean and compact lines, as we can see in the interiors.
Almost a minimal but refined style, thanks to the use of simple and natural materials and colors inspired by Scandinavia, plus the reduction of buttons in the central part of the dashboard. Just here there’s a 8.9″ touch screen display, from which we access many customizable features, such as various driving modes (Eco, Comfort, Off Road, Dynamic and Individual), satellite navigation, safety devices and even app management for your smartphone.
A true luxury SUV that does not disappoint in comfort, convenience or safety. It steps the game up. Among the many things I mentioned there are the famous Pilot Assist, the semi-autonomous driving system, City Safety with automatic steering, the innovative Oncoming Lane Mitigation, to minimize the possibility of frontal collisions, and finally BLIS “dedicated” to blind corners. Everything will bring the new cars to a complete driving automation.
The available packages are three: Business, Inscription and R-Design. In short, a car rich in technology and options that bring the buyer to have endless choice. Then the engines, as listed below with their respective base prices, which are currently 5:
-D4 2.0 all-wheel-drive and 190 hp starting from € 48.500 ;
-D5 2.0 235 hp starting from € 53.350 ;
-T5 2.0 254 hp starting from € 53.650 ;
-T6 2.0 320 hp starting from € 60.350 ;
-T8 (hybrid plug-in) 407 hp at € 70.350.
In 2018 engines will be expanded with the arrival of a new D3 150 hp and D4 with front-wheel drive, respectively at € 44,500 and € 46,500 and a petrol T4 190 hp and T3 up to 152 hp. What else to say, an extensive range of prices that would please many customers! Last but not least, Volvo’s intention to sell 1 million XC60 by 2025 – the start has been a success, and we obviously hope that Volvo will get things done as it deserves!
Words and photography by Diana Varga