Cool New Volvo S60 Takes Aim At 3 Series

Sporty saloon gets petrol and PHEV range; raft of tech

- Steve Fowler

VOLVO has revealed its all-new BMW 3 Series rival ahead of the saloon landing in the UK early next year. But the S60 won’t have it easy; when it arrives it’ll line up against an all-new 3 Series, not to mention Mercedes’ revised C-Class, Audi’s A4 and Jaguar’s XE.

Volvo’s president and CEO Hakan Samuelsson calls the S60 “one of the most exciting Volvo cars we’ve ever made” and “a true driver’s car”. Big claims. It’ll be produced at an all-new plant in the US in Charleston, South Carolina with a clear leaning to the big and lucrative US and Chinese markets.

That, in part, explains why it takes a different approach to its rivals, eschewing diesel power in favour of four 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engines; two of which add supercharging, all-wheel drive and plug-in hybrid power.