Volvo will follow up its newly launched XC60 with an S60 saloon and V60 estate in 2018 - and the challengers for the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes C-Class are set to be the company’s best shot yet at toppling the German competition.
Both cars will use the same SPA platform as the XC60 SUV, as well as the larger XC90, S90 and V90 cars that are already on the road. That means both cars will take design cues from their larger versions, although as with the XC60, a more muscular look will be present to differentiate them from the more formal ’90’ models.
Volvo’s senior vice-president for design, Thomas Ingenlath, told Auto Express, “I have a bit of a romance with these smaller saloons [in the S60’s compact executive class]; they are athletic and if you do a sedan in that smaller size it can look beefier.”
• New Volvo XC60 SUV revealed at Geneva
What won’t change too much is the interior, as all of the ’60 cluster’ - XC60, S60 and V60 - will feature a similar dashboard design to the ’90 cluster’, featuring the same portrait touchscreen display and high-quality materials around the cabin.
Ingenlath was clear that Volvo’s upcoming new models represent a huge step forward compared with the current cars. “The XC60 is more of a normal step forward; it’s not such a revolution,” he said, “but that is the one and only time.”
Power is expected to come from a range of four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines, with the same D4 and D5 units from the S90 and V90 joined by a T8 plug-in hybrid and possibly a T5 petrol as well.
Volvo’s eight-speed manual gearbox will power the front wheels in most models, but AWD will be available, as well as a manual gearbox on certain versions.
Three-cylinder power is also on the table for the S60 and V60, as well as all the other cars that use the SPA platform. Magnus Olsson, VP for vehicle development for mid-size cars, admitted that the prospect of three-cylinder engines on the SPA platform “can’t be ruled out”.
Volvo’s former head of R&D, Peter Mertens, told Auto Express last year that he had already evaluated three-cylinder power in a prototype of the S60, but Olsson admitted, “Performance-wise the engines are very good, but with the vibrations, we need to work on refinement.”
Olsson also told us that a smaller, more economy-focused hybrid than the 400bhp T8 model is another potential powertrain for the S60 and V60, as well as the other cars in Volvo’s refreshed range. This set-up would harness engines and batteries from the forthcoming ’40’ range of models, which will use a smaller platform developed in conjunction with Volvo’s Chinese owner, Geely.
Safety is always a big part of Volvo’s products and the next S60 and V60 will be no different, combining passive crash protection with a host of modern active safety kit including automatic emergency braking, a rear cross-traffic alert and semi-autonomous driving tech.
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