Photo: Stefan Baldauf/SB-Medien
At the present moment, Volvo’s lineup is a mishmash of old and new. The 90 Series is thoroughly modern, but lesser models are in dire need of replacements. Of those, the XC60 compact-sized crossover SUV is the first candidate for an all-new iteration.
This isn’t the first time the shutterbugs caught the thing testing out in the open, albeit this set of spy photos portrays the 2018 Volvo XC60 in an environment we’ve never seen it before: the frosty Swedish Lapland.
On the outskirts of Kiruna, Sweden’s northernmost town, a company called Eriksson Bil helps Volvo and the likes of Ford and Renault put cars through cold-weather testing. Underneath the Playskoo kids modeling dough-inspired plastic body cladding, the pictured prototype hints that production is nigh.
In this day and age, a manufacturer’s strength comes from crossovers and the like, the reason why the peeps over at Volvo won’t be cutting corners with the XC60. Underpinned by the SPA platform from the 90 Series lineup, the upcoming XC60 also gets the trademark headlights and taillights from its bigger brother, the supremely comfortable XC90. The pre-production XC60 also has black-finish, round-shaped exhaust pipes, a visual indicator that this is the entry-level Kinetic specification animated by an oil-chugging engine.
2.0-liter four-cylinder engines are on the menu for the new kid on the block, including a range-topping plug-in hybrid variant closely related to the XC90 T8 Twin Engine. Hearsay suggests the eco-friendliest XC60 will be christened T6 Twin Engine. A Polestar-tuned performance model could also make the cut if Volvo can make a case for it. Considering that BMW currently develops an M-branded X3 and Mercedes-Benz works on the GLC 63 4Matic, it’s safe to assume that Volvo undoubtedly wants a go-faster crossover of its own.
According to the latest rumors, Volvo intends to reveal the second-generation XC60 at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show for the 2018 model year. Mind you, this gut feeling tells me we won’t have to wait that long for the compact luxury crossover SUV to make its first public outing in the flesh.
On the outskirts of Kiruna, Sweden’s northernmost town, a company called Eriksson Bil helps Volvo and the likes of Ford and Renault put cars through cold-weather testing. Underneath the Playskoo kids modeling dough-inspired plastic body cladding, the pictured prototype hints that production is nigh.
In this day and age, a manufacturer’s strength comes from crossovers and the like, the reason why the peeps over at Volvo won’t be cutting corners with the XC60. Underpinned by the SPA platform from the 90 Series lineup, the upcoming XC60 also gets the trademark headlights and taillights from its bigger brother, the supremely comfortable XC90. The pre-production XC60 also has black-finish, round-shaped exhaust pipes, a visual indicator that this is the entry-level Kinetic specification animated by an oil-chugging engine.
2.0-liter four-cylinder engines are on the menu for the new kid on the block, including a range-topping plug-in hybrid variant closely related to the XC90 T8 Twin Engine. Hearsay suggests the eco-friendliest XC60 will be christened T6 Twin Engine. A Polestar-tuned performance model could also make the cut if Volvo can make a case for it. Considering that BMW currently develops an M-branded X3 and Mercedes-Benz works on the GLC 63 4Matic, it’s safe to assume that Volvo undoubtedly wants a go-faster crossover of its own.
According to the latest rumors, Volvo intends to reveal the second-generation XC60 at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show for the 2018 model year. Mind you, this gut feeling tells me we won’t have to wait that long for the compact luxury crossover SUV to make its first public outing in the flesh.
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