The XC60 project is targeted to customers with high demands on design, brand integrity and high-tech content. According to Volvo the XC60 exterior was conceived as a mix of two car styles. The lower part is characterized by muscular and bold volumes, with large wheels and high ground clearace. Up above, the flowing lines and sleek profile create the sporty look and visual impression of a coupé.

Source: Absolute Car Picture

Automobile · Business · Coupé · High tech · Parts and Accessories · Shopping · Volvo · Wheels

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The Volvo XC60 D5 has been voted the best SUV over $40,000 ahead of the Audi Q5 TFSI and Lexus RX 350 Sports Luxury with its standard City Safety feature taking out the Safety Innovation award.

According to judges the Volvo XC60 D5 ‘rated highly for its family-friendly cabin (including integrated child booster seats) and safety (including the world’s first low speed crash-avoidance technology)’.

It also gained ‘plaudits in areas in which the company doesn’t normally excel’.

“We are absolutely delighted that the Volvo XC60 D5 – and its City Safety technology – has been acknowledged as a leader in its class,” said Alan Desselss, managing director of Volvo Car Australia.

“It shows that Volvo is challenging the competition in all areas, not just in the realm of safety.”

[Source: The auto channel ]

Audi Q5 · Autos · Lexus RX · Makes and Models · Recreation · Sport utility vehicle · Technology · Volvo XC60

Japan, Germany and Sweden battle for honours with, respectively, the Lexus RX350, Audi Q5 and Volvo XC60 D5.

Lording it up on road rather than roughing it off road is the name of the game in this category for high-riding luxury vehicles.

This renamed segment (from 4WD to SUV) accounts for the boom in two-wheel-drive-only vehicles that look like – rather than drive like – 4WDs, though the Lexus RX350 Sports Luxury, Audi Q5 TFSI and Volvo XC60 D5 all come with four-wheel-drive systems.

No such elongated process for the Volvo XC60, which was universally acclaimed for its family-friendly cabin. Although missing levers in the boot (like the Q5) to automatically fold down the rear seats, they require just one pull on a lever to drop to create a completely flat cargo area.

There’s also a standard electric tailgate, which opens to reveal wide access to the rear.

With a spacious and pampering cabin helping to nail the ‘Comfort and practicality’ criterion, it was perhaps not surprising the Volvo would get the highest marks for ‘Safety’.

The XC60 is the first vehicle to come standard with low-speed crash avoidance technology Volvo calls City Safety, and judges agreed it was a worthwhile feature that had the potential to save the average owner a few thousand dollars.

The back seat’s integrated pop-up child booster seats were regarded as a simple yet brilliant idea, while the XC60 offers a multitude of optional safety features such as lane departure warning.

Judges also praised the interior’s distinctive design with its touches of Scandinavian flair.

Recent updates to the D5 model’s suspension and diesel engine have also improved the XC60’s overall package.

The ride is more agreeable, the handling competent, and the turbo diesel is stronger and more fuel efficient than before. The latter isn’t class-leading in terms of refinement, though acceleration is accompanied by a relatively pleasant throb from the five-cylinder unit.

And these were all crucial to the Volvo XC60 D5 riding just slightly higher than its rival contenders to secure a majority verdict from the court of Car of the Year.

Read the full story at SMH

Audi Q5 · Auto · Four-wheel drive · Germany · Lexus RX · Sport utility vehicle · Sweden · Volvo XC60

Swedish car manufacturer Volvo Cars which has rechristened its firm’s name to Volvo Auto India Private Limited, will be focussing on using its resources towards promoting new cars which it plans to launch in India in 2010.

Volvo Auto India which will not be participating at the Auto Expo in Delhi in January 2010, has plans to launch the 2010-spec S80 luxury sedan in India priced around Rs 38- 40 lakh. Reports in media indicate that a conatiner carrying S80 sedans is already on its way to India and is likely to hit Indian shore by beginning of January 2010. In addition, the company is also proposing to roll out XC60 compact SUV in the first half of 2010 and the S60 saloon, both of which it believes are well suited to the requirements of the Indian market.

According to Volvo, the luxury car market (comprising of cars costing Rs 25 lakh and above) in India grew by 11 per cent in 2009, while sales of Volvo cars in the country grew by 16 per cent during the year. Volvo Auto India sold 900 cars last year and expects to beat the 10 per cent increase it had earlier projected for this year.

Even after delinking its business from Ford, VCI has stated that it is quite upbeat about the country’s operations and would also be intruding its global models in a phased manner. It has also been learnt that Volvo India is keen to set up a car assembly unit in India, if its annual numbers touch 2,000 units. After established its presence in seven cities; Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Cochin, Chennai and Pune currently in India, the company is now chalking out robust strategies to enhance its dealership base to Goa, Kolkata, Bangalore and Ahmedabad and Coimbatore.

Read more: Volvo lines up S80, S60 sedan and XC60 SUV for India in 2010 – WheelsUnplugged Automobile Industry News
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Asia · Automobile · Automotive industry · Chennai · Ford Motor Company · India · Mumbai · Volvo Cars

In a well-remembered advertising campaign, Volvos were marketed as the sensible Swede.” Maybe the company should resurrect that slogan, because what’s more sensible than trying to build the world’s safest automobiles?

Keeping occupants from harm has become a religion at Volvo’s Gothenburg works, so that’s where the company directs its energies. And a lot of Volvo R&D is designed to make a vehicle that’s smarter than its driver — in some situations.

For instance, Volvo studies have found that in 50% of all collisions below 30 km/h, the driver takes no action to avoid impact. Enter the 2010 XC60 crossover, the first to get Volvo’s new City Safety low-speed-collision avoidance/mitigation system as standard equipment.

At speeds under 30 km/h, City Safety uses a laser sensor to calculate the closing rate between the XC60 and the vehicle in front. If a collision is imminent and the driver takes no action, 50% of braking power automatically is applied. Volvo saysthe

system can eliminate collisions entirely at speeds under15

km/h and lessen the severity up to 30 km/h.

City Safety sees” only large reflective surfaces and does not react to pedestrians or bicycles. Wisely, Volvo engineers have located the sensor behind the windscreen, where grunge can be cleaned away by the wipers, making the system operable in all kinds of weather.

It’s a bit of a leap of faith to put your fate in the hands of some lasers and computers. But as I find in repeated demos with an XC60 AWD, the system slows you to the point where you can safely bring the vehicle to a full stop.

Our test car also has the blind spot information system (BLIS), which is part of the AWD package. With this, an orange light glows on either outside mirror if a vehicle is approaching from the rear, and might go unnoticed. This, too, really works.

All XC60s come standard with four-wheel anti-lock brakes (ABS) with electronic brake distribution (EBD) and emergency brake assist (EBA) plus six airbags, Volvo’s side impact protection system (SIPS) and whiplash protection system (WHIPS).

Read the full review at standard-freeholder

ABS · Airbag · Anti-lock braking system · Auto · Automobile · Brake Assist · Electronic brakeforce distribution · Gothenburg · Makes and Models · Recreation · Side Impact Protection System · Volvo · Volvo Cars · Volvo XC60

Here is a new review of the Volvo XC60 from Kustomatic:
This oeuvre-on-wheels may be sharing a niche currently dominated by impressive entries from big guns like BMW (BMW X3), Land Rover (Land Rover LR2), Acura (Acura RDX), and Infiniti (EX35), but, being a flagship product of the Swedish company’s thrust to enhance the design DNA of its cars and being billed as the “safest Volvo ever,” it can surely outshine its earlier counterparts.
According to Volvo, the car is packed with “more emotive form and more energy” compared to all the other cars it has manufactured through the years. Volvo Cars Design Director Steve Mattin further claimed that “if you say that you’d recognize a Volvo from a hundred meters away today, I dare say the XC60 radiates a clear Volvo presence from at least twice that distance.”
But there is something more interesting than the luster—the XC60 is available in metallic finishes: electric silver, black sapphire, barents blue, maple red, to name some—catching the eyes of people from this “double-distance” Mattin is talking about. The XC60 is offered with drivers having a say on what engine will run their XC60s: it can either be the turbocharged T6, which produces 285 horsepower, or two variants of the D5 turbodiesel—for Europe—yielding 185 and 163 horsepower respectively. All Wheel Drive (AWD) is fitted as standard.
The XC60 also features a revolutionary braking technology called “City Safety,” which enables the car to automatically brake whenever the car is about to drive into something—a wall, another car—and the driver is not able to respond. This is done via built-in cameras and sensors that can detect imminent impacts.
“We are the first manufacturer in the world to offer this type of feature as standard. City Safety clearly advertises that the new XC60 is the safest car Volvo has ever produced,” Volvo CEO Fredrik Arp said. “The car is packed with our accumulated safety know-how and technology, both when it comes to preventing accidents and protecting all the occupants in a collision.”
Aside from these special attributes, the XC60 does not leave out other staples of a dream comfort car. It has standard Bluetooth connectivity, HD Radio, Sirius Satellite Radio, USB and auxiliary inputs for audio players, power front seats, roof rails, and even a large moonroof.

Acura RDX · BMW X3 · Four-wheel drive · HD Radio · Infiniti · Land Rover · Sirius Satellite Radio · Volvo XC60

Voting for the 2010 Wesbank Car of The Year competition has already begun as 30 select members of the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists yesterday selected eight hopeful finalists. One of the finalists is the Volvo XC-60.

Africa · Arts · Arts and Entertainment · France · Literature · South Africa · South Africa under apartheid · South African

The second movie New Moon opens in theatres November 20. If you have a teenage daughter, she’s probably camped out in front of a downtown theatre right now, fogging up the ticket window with breathy anticipation.

English actor Robert Pattinson, plays pouting blood sucker and love interest Edward Cullen to actress Kristen Stewart’s love-struck mortal Bella in the popular tetralogy (four-banger).

In the first film, Edward gets to rip around the damp roads of the misty and moody Pacific Northwest coastal town of Forks, Washington, in a silver Volvo C30 at breakneck speeds. The car appears so often in Twilight, that it’s almost a character itself (notably Greig’s favourite character).

As a vampire, Edward has the power to drive inexplicably fast without worry of a fender bender.

He also appears to have a built-in radar detector due to mind-reading capabilities.

Unlike us mere mortals, he can hear the cop’s conversation beyond the bend.

Some Twihards may be in for a surprise at the New Moon premiere: Edward has traded in his flashy C30 for the roomy family-minded Volvo XC60 T6 AWD crossover.

Spoiler alert: Edward manages to impregnate Bella with a potentially fanged fetus in the fourth and final film Breaking Dawn.

Unfortunately for Bella, there’s a gang of “bad” vampires after her (a.k.a. human blood suckers, unlike Edward who subsists on deer and cougar blood). Edward’s raison d’être is now to keep Bella safe.

For vampires and customers looking for a Volvo with all-road get-away capability, the XC60 crossover equipped with City Safety is a solution.

City Safety is the very latest in safety technology.

It’s a low-speed automatic braking system.

This unique technology from Volvo helps Edward reduce the chance of a low-speed collision.

If Edward does not brake in time, the XC60 will do it for him.

City Safety monitors vehicles ahead — stopped at a light or moving in the same direction. Situated at the top of the windshield are laser sensors that gauge the distance between Edward’s XC60 and the car in front.

The XC60 brakes and comes to a stop automatically if the distance to the car ahead abruptly decreases, thus avoiding a collision as long as Edward is travelling under 30 km/h.

If he’s speeding as usual, the XC60 will still slow automatically, lessoning the impact.

If Edward is asleep at the wheel (impossible as vampires never sleep) a sensor called Driver Alert will warn him that he is possibly nodding off for the first time in almost a century.

Volvo’s XC60 is the safest Volvo yet.

It may just be the Big Brother of cars with features like Lane Departure Warning that audibly warns the driver when the car crosses the line.

A front and rear parking sensor assists through a series of audible beeps while backing into a tight spot.

Roll Stability Control monitors the vehicle rotation around its vertical axis.

Active Bending Headlights turn with the steering wheel, rounding dark corners before you do.

Particularly useful is the Blind Spot Information System which provides warnings of vehicles travelling in the XC60′s blind spots; handy if Vampires are sneaking up on you.

This Volvo is outfitted with airbags galore: multi-stage front airbags, side curtain airbags, and dual-chamber side airbags with side impact protection.

The vehicle’s body structure is designed to provide protection in a frontal collision, while Volvo’s Side Impact Protection System maintains an adequate space for the passengers in the event of an accident.

Inside the cabin, a panoramic sunroof reaches back towards the roomy rear seats providing so much light, it’s almost like driving a convertible.

Being a vampire, Edward might prefer a solid roof over his head.

Power leather heated seats will keep his chilly limbs warm.

My test unit came with chocolate brown and beige leather two-tone seats reminiscent of a saddle shoe design.

The interior is luxurious with wood inlays and quality materials.

The Navi system was easy to program, but came with remote control on which I had to press an enter button each time I started the car to agree to drive safely.

If there was a redundant “enter” button on the dash or steering I couldn’t locate it. Edward, an accomplished classically trained pianist, would appreciate the six-disc CD changer, eight speakers, satellite radio and input for his iPod.

When the sun suddenly broke out on what had been a gloomy, slippery day in Vancouver, I took my test unit to Pacific Spirit Regional Park.

Driving the small and sporty C30 back to back with the XC60, I was curious to see if the XC60 would feel cumbersome.

With a powerful turbocharged six-cylinder engine producing 281 hp and 295 pound-feet of torque, the XC60 is a decent performer for a sport-ute. In seven seconds I was easily up to highway speed.

This Volvo crossover felt great accelerating out of the corners on the wet road with just a hint of roll.

Parked in a grassy meadow, I played around with three suspension settings: Comfort, Sport and Advanced, trying to imagine which setting a vampire might prefer.

Volvo’s All-wheel drive with Instant Traction is standard equipment.

The AWD is electronically controlled and can sense which wheel or wheels has the best grip on the ground and distributes engine power between the front and rear wheels automatically.

The XC60 easily climbed a muddy slope in the park, something Edward’s C30 could not have managed.

Read the full story at Vancouver Sun

Actor · Airbag · Automobile · Blind Spot Information System · Edward Cullen · Electronic stability control · Twilight · Volvo XC60

Volvo has launched its latest XC60 crossover car in Geneva. By introducing Volvo xc60,they prove that Volvo has gone with the time and changed its image. All fans are looking for new Volvo xc60 review. The first car was seen in Detroit’s Auto show. The new Volvo comes with swooping headlights, S-shaped LED taillights and, sleek profile and a ground clearance that similar to cars.

New Volvo wants to prove that their car is glowing market. As it comes with small surprise that nearly half of Wagons and crossover has sold in the U.S. The car maker will be adding more models for arrangement in the near future. The all-new xc60 crossover wants to make its first appearance in Geneva next month. Finally Volvo has adopted a sportier and sleeker look. A new lifestyle keeping in mind, the xc 60 adopt features like height and is devoid of any serious under body safety. The officials are expecting to sell up to 67,000 units per year.

Volvo XC60 Features:

• The middle console has the climate manage buttons in it; where as place behind the console is empty and can be used for storage.
• The widest idea car touch is in the headlight cluster where two small Viking longboats lights up when the lights are covered on.
• It has Electronic parking brake and Tire pressure monitoring system.
• The model has a new protection feature. It can completely apply the brakes if an accident is approaching.
• It has Blue tooth® Hands-Free Capability and U.S.D interface.
• Driver and Front Passenger Supplemental control System – Double Stage Air Bags.

Volvo x60 fan ranking:

The XC60 compete with BMW’s X3, land rover free Lander, and the currently launched Audi Q5. Many fans are preferred to buy this car. Volvo XC60 gives many comforts than any other cars. It has five doors SUV and also has front engine. The officials are expecting to sell up to 67,000 units per year.

[Source: B4Tea]

Audi Q5 · Automobile · Automotive lighting · BMW · Geneva · Makes and Models · Sport utility vehicle · Volvo XC60