Volvo, eager tap into the hot, hot market for premium compact sport-utility vehicles — a segment which includes the BMW X3, the Acura RDX, the Land Rover LR2, and the forthcoming Mercedes-Benz GLK — chose Geneva to show off its handsome new XC60. The five-passenger cute-ute uses the Ford Motor Company's C1 platform and Haldex all-wheel-drive system (which underpins the S40/V50, the European Ford Focus and the new Ford Kuga, and the aforementioned LR2).
It goes on sale in Europe this fall, and reaches American showrooms early in 2009. When it arrives here, it will do so one way: With the turbocharged 3.2-liter in-line six-cylinder engine from the S80 T6 AWD, which sends 281 horsepower to all four wheels through a six-speed manu-matic transmission. Volvo hasn't noted fuel-consumption numbers yet, but expect the XC60 to return about 16 mpg around town and 24 mpg on the highway.
The company plans to produce 50,000 vehicles a year from its factory in Ghent, Belgium, 15,000 to 20,000 of which will cross the Atlantic. There's no question the XC60 will be quick and well-mannered with the T6, and bring to market the usual passel of advanced Volvo safety features for notably less money than the wagon-derived XC70 or the larger XC90 sport-utility. But what might really separate the XC60 from the premium small-ute crowd in this country would be the inclusion of Volvo's well-regarded European-market "D5" diesel engine. Displacing 2.4 liters, this turbocharged in-line five produces 183 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque (the later figure identical to the bigger gasoline-fed T6), and in the all-wheel-drive Euro-spec V70, it returns a very fine 37 mpg.
Expect Mercedes-Benz to make good on its promise of a Bluetec diesel engine in the GLK, and with the coming of the X5 XDrive35d and 335d sedan, a diesel version of the BMW X3 hardly out of the question. It's apparent that even Land Rover is toying with a U.S.-compliant diesel, as witnessed by the LRX diesel-electric hybrid concept from the Detroit show.
More photos after the break, courtesy of Volvo.
