Autoblog

Vehicle sales are brutal everywhere of late, but Volvo has been tanking long before any industry-wide slowdown took place. That makes the March 2009 arrival of the XC60 crossover that much more important, as it's the first all-new Volvo (besides the low volume C30) in many years. Since customers have been turning away from the Volvo brand of late, marketing will play a big part of the XC60's success. Volvo has unleashed its new campaign for the CUV already with the tagline, "The new Volvo XC60. From Sweden with löv." We get it. Volvo is stressing its Swedish roots in marketing its new vehicle. Hey, it works for IKEA, right? Volvo even utilized the Swedish spelling for 'love' to give its new crossover more Euro appeal.

Our tipster Caitlin didn't think it works at all. The reason? Löv means 'leaves' in Swedish and has nothing to do with that certain brand of affection that makes our cheeks blush. According to Caitlin, Lov without the umlaut means 'vacation' or 'break', which sounds like a better advertising angle for a CUV than leaves, but just doesn't look as "Swedish" in print. The proper translation of 'love' into Swedish is "kärlek", so when you begin seeing the XC60 on U.S. streets next March, just remember that it comes from Sweden with kärlek. Thanks for the tip, Caitlin!


[Source: Volvo]

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Volvo XC60.

Volvo's entrance into the ever-expanding crossover segment was finally revealed here in Geneva when the wraps were pulled off the new XC60. The swoopy, Swedish cute 'ute will make its way Stateside later this year powered by the turbocharged T6, producing 281 hp and coming standard with all-wheel-drive and Volvo's extensive safety features. Aside from the Instant Traction control, a new system, dubbed City Safety, applies the brakes if a low-speed impact is imminent. Volvo expects to unload around 50,000 XC60s a year, with 15,000-20,000 units sold here in the U.S.

Volvo's exhaustive press release is posted after the jump.

Click above for more leaked images of the 2009 Volvo XC60.

Just this morning we showed you four leaked images of the upcoming Volvo XC60 CUV that will officially debut next month at the Geneva Motor Show. Those four have now been increased to include 13 leaked images that Carscoop found while rummaging around the interweb today. It's a handsome soft-roader for sure, but we think most Volvos are good looking and yet that doesn't seem to translate into huge sales numbers for the brand. Carscoop also claims to know a few more details about the XC60, including that it will get a turbocharged 3.0L V6 in Europe producing 285 horsepower, as well as a 2.4L turbo-diesel making either 163 hp or 185 hp. Take those figures as hearsay until it's made officially official by Volvo, but the new images appear to be the real deal, so feast your eyes on the whole batch below.


[Source: Carscoop]

Click above for more shots of the Volvo XC60.

The Geneva Motor Show is right around the bend and the "leaks" are beginning to pop up left and right. The first major production model to surface is Volvo's new XC60, a cute 'ute that's instrumental to Volvo's future plans in the U.S. market.

The XC60 originally appeared on (lemme get this right) automenedzser.hu and the design stays faithful to the concept that bowed in Detroit back in 2007. While the front end doesn't carry over some of the concept's metallic adornments, the fascia, with its drawn headlamps, dual air dams and sweeping fenders, are present and accounted for. The rear end also closely resembles the concept's, complete with the shapely rear LED taillamps and curved hatch.

When the XC60 goes on sale, it's expected to be packing a combination of gasoline and diesel powerplants, including a 1.8-liter, 2.5-liter turbo and 3.2-liter six.




[Source: automenedzser.hu]

Click the image above for a high-res gallery of live and studio shots of the Volvo XC60 concept.

Volvo's presence at the Detroit auto show was mysteriously minimal, with only a sparsely populated booth and no scheduled press conference. Instead, the Swedes are turning their attention to Geneva, where Volvo will be showing off the 2009 XC60, a compact CUV aimed at the Acura RDX, BMW X3 and a number of other soft-roaders currently populating the marketplace.

The first round of speculation pegged the XC60's powerplant as the 3.2-liter inline-six pulled from the S80, but according to Inside Line, there is still some debate within Volvo about what will motivate the cute 'ute. A transversely mounted inline-five is one option, but regardless, buyers can opt for either front- or all-wheel-drive.

Sales are expected to begin in late 2008 in Europe, with U.S. buyers getting their hands on the XC60 sometime in early 2009.

[Source: Inside Line]

click above image for more pics of the Volvo XC60 Concept

Volvo is keen to expand its range with several radically styled all-new models, the first of which is likely to be a production version of the XC60 crossover. Displayed in concept form at the Detroit Auto Show back in January, the XC60 is a departure from Volvo's traditional boxy approach and there's a good chance that these same lines will carry over to the production car. One thing we're pretty sure of though is that the production car's interior won't be anywhere near as cool as the one in concept's cockpit.

We won't be seeing the car launch at any of the major car shows this year, as Volvo is said to be focusing on its environmental concepts, such as a rumored diesel-hybrid, so next year's Detroit show is probably the best bet.

Next in line will be the S60 sedan, but according to a Volvo spokesman, the primary attention of developers was centered on getting the XC60 out. This is because the Swede brand has no genuine rival for cars like the BMW X3 or upcoming Volkswagen Tiguan, and this is said to have delayed development work for the next S60 sedan, which now won't be hitting the market until the end of next year.

[Source: The Car Connection]

We just told you the latest on Volvo's upcoming XC60 Concept, but there is so much more to see. Photos are nice, but now we have video as well! Check out the YouTube clip after the jump. The XC60 will debut at the NAIAS in Detroit next month, but this XC90 sibling is worth a closer look, especially considering the fact that it is probably going into production in 2009.

It uses Ford's European "kinetic" design language, and somewhat evokes the look of the Ford Iosis concept. That's a pretty big departure for Volvo, but it's nothing compared to that interior! Definitely less production-likely than the outside, the inside is really sci-fi.

[Source: Volvo via YouTube]