Volvo is in the midst of a major overhaul.
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The Swedish brand has languished in the wilderness behind rival premium European brands for the last decade, but, since being overtaken by Chinese company Geely, it has rebuilt itself to once again be a genuine luxury player.
That turnaround has been led by a significant rejuvenation of its product line-up that started with the XC90 SUV.
The latest of those is the smaller XC60, a compact SUV that enters into one of the most competitive - and popular - segments of the luxury car market and brings with it new innovations in safety, efficiency and design.
The XC60 is offered in Australia across three model grades - Momentum, Inscription and R-Design - each of which is available with a choice of petrol or diesel engines, and in the case of the flagship T8 R-Design it comes exclusively with a petrol-electric plug-in hybrid powertrain.
As you'd expect from Volvo, the XC60 has one of the most comprehensive suite of crash avoidance safety functions on-sale at the moment, with autonomous emergency braking, active cruise control, lane keeping assistance, blind spot monitoring and a world-first head-on mitigation system that can steer the car back into the correct lane while detecting oncoming traffic.
There's a real wow factor about the XC60's cabin.
Essentially a scaled-down adaptation of that in the larger XC90, it is no less impressive in the smaller SUV in the way it combines minimalist Swedish design elements with modern technology and top-quality materials.
The portrait-style touch screen in the centre of dash is a standout, and, while its myriad of functions need time to become familiar with, its tablet functionality, with mobile-like swipe, pinch and zoom navigation, makes it convenient to use over time.
The XC60 sets new benchmarks for the compact luxury SUV segment.
At any level, it's stylish on the outside and spacious on the inside with cutting-edge safety and connectivity features that appeal to the head and the heart in equal measure. Source: Drive