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Volvo has given us the first images and details of the new V60 estate ahead of the car's full unveiling at the upcoming Geneva motor show.
Volvo actually launched the car in what it called "its natural habitat - the driveway of a family home in Stockholm - highlighting Volvo Cars' pedigree in family estates and pinpointing how the V60's versatile design caters to the diverse needs and realities of modern family life."
"The family estate driver is an important customer for our business and has been for generations," said Håkan Samuelsson, president and CEO of Volvo Cars. "The new V60 honours that tradition, but also takes it much further."
The new V60 shares its platform with the XC60 SUV, and also with the V90, S60, and XC90. It's the Volvo Scaleable Product Architecture, or SPA, and the V60 is the smallest car that will be built on it.
One of the big selling points of the car, Volvo hopes, will be its interior, which lifts a lot from the 90-series cars and the XC60, including the big Sensus touchscreen in the middle of the dash. "The V60 really is the central point of the Volvo brand," said Robin Page, Senior Vice President Design at Volvo Cars. "It's refined, has a beautiful proportion and stance, yet delivers on practicality and versatility."
It's roomier than most of its rivals too, with a 529-litre boot putting it ahead of such as the Audi A4 Avant, and BMW 3 Series Touring. In fact, that's actually 29 litres more than the vast V90 estate...
Engines will include a new plugin hybrid option, the 340hp T6, which will sit alongside the existing 400hp T8, borrowed from the XC60. There will also be conventional powerplants - 245hp T5 and 338hp T6 petrols, and 150hp and 190hp D3 and D4 diesels.
As you'd expect, the V60 is going to be very, very safe. It borrows most of its safety tech - including autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection - from the XC60, and Volvo says that it has upgraded the Level Two-autonomous Pilot Assist system so that it's better at guiding the car along a motorway lane.
And if you're waiting for the S60 saloon? Well, you'll be waiting a bit yet. That's not due to be revealed for a couple of months yet, with both cars due on sale by the end of this year.