Volvo CEO Hints at V60 Coming to North America

Much to the dismay to most North American Volvo wagon enthusiasts, when Volvo debuted the V60, they also said it would not be coming to North America due to poor V70 sales. However it now seems there is a possibility of the very stylish V60 being available for sale here.

Volvo CEO Stefan Jacoby recently indicated that it’s possible for the V60 to come to this side of the pond as a sort of niche vehicle. He suggested that perhaps the V60 could be a hybrid only if sold here. The goal would be to keep Volvo loyalists happy all while ensuring they don’t jump ship for the Toyota Prius, Lexus HS 25oh or Audi A3 TDI should they want something more efficient. This would also help Volvo achieve its CAFE standards as they currently offer no hybrid or diesel models in North America.

Volvo is currently working on electric vehicles and has also hinted at a deisel powered C30 coming to our market as well.

Would you buy a hybridized V60 or would you rather just a pocket rocket version in T6 form? Maybe beggers can’t be choosers.

[Swedespeed]

Oh Hi: 2011 Volvo V60

We’ve known about the V60′s existence for a while, we’ve even seen pics of it without any camo, so there aren’t really any surprises here, but now we have an official reveal and I must say it looks fantastic.

The very shapely and sporty looking wagon apparently enjoys being taken by the scruff of the neck. The video Volvo has released above shows just how well the wagon can handle the elements. Volvo has bragged about the new S60′s handling capabilities, so it’s safe to say the V60 can pull off similar tricks, only with more room for all your stuff.

Even though Volvo has had huge amounts of success with its SUV’s (I came away quite impressed with the XC60 for instance), I really appreciate that they haven’t given up on their wagons, which have really helped to catapult Volvo’s sales in the past.

This new V60 will replace the V70 & V50 (at least in our market). The XC70 will still stick around for those who want a bit more space and a bit more off-road capability. As you would expect, you get all the usual Volvo safety bits as standard.

In any event, looks like another winner from Volvo.

Check out some pics at Autoblog

[Volvo via Autoblog]

Volvo V60 Caught Completely Naked

Volvo has recently announced that starting in 2011, the V70 wagon would no longer be sold in the United States. Although they have not confirmed the same fate for the V70 in our market yet, it is also expected to get the axe. Volvo only sold 1800 units in the States last year. The XC70 on the other hand has been doing much better and it will try to fill the V70′s shoes. The V70 will continue on in Europe.

But those who prefer their wagons to be at a normal height, i.e not jacked up like the XC70, don’t need to fret as the V60 is going to take the V70′s place.

For the first time ever, Volvo has let the V60 out and about without any comouflage whatsoever – very unusual for any automaker, but especially unusual for a European automaker. They tend to be quite secretive about new upcoming models.

Anyway, we can see that the V60 is basically going to be a wagon version of the S60 sedan. The lines are quite nice for a wagon. It’s very sleek, it has a high belt line and and classic Volvo tail lights.

The V60 is expected to get the same 300 horsepower and 325 pound foot torque that the  S60 T6 will get, and other engine variants are rumoured.

Check the jump for a rear view shot.

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Let’s Try This Again: Next Lexus IS to Spawn Wagon

We called it just a few posts down, and Lexus is helping to prove us right. We said to expect to see more wagons coming in the near future.

You may be forgiven if you’ve forgotten all about the IS 300 SportCross you see pictured above. But it did indeed exist from 2001 to 2005  and it sold badly. So badly that Lexus had decided it was wasting its valuable time and money on it and the SportCross swiftly got the axe.

But AutoCar is reporting that the next generation IS will see the return of the wagon. Whether or not they’ll call it SportCross again is anyone’s guess, but we’re going to go on record as saying they won’t call it the IS wagon. Wagon is such a taboo word for some reason.  Also, the next IS is rumoured to receive a hybrid variant.

So, let’s take a look at the wagon list. BMW has the 3 series wagon, Audi has their A4 Avant, Volvo has their V60 coming, Acura has just announced a TSX wagon will debut this year, and now we have Lexus. Expect Mercedes-Benz to re-examine their decision not to sell the new C-Class wagon here very soon.

Volvo Is Still In The Wagon Business: V60 Spied

After years and years of assuring us that they would never enter into the SUV segment (mostly around the time when most SUV’s Ford Explorers were flipping over right and left) for safety reasons, we now have two SUV’s offered from the Swedish brand. And what SUV’s they are too. The XC90 looks great and the most critical, brutal automotive journalist in the world, Jeremy Clarkson, is even quite fond of it. Of the XC90 he said, “It is by far the best of all the school-run-mobiles because there really is room for seven people, 14 legs and two dogs in the boot as well. No other car maker — and this is strange — has managed to pull off a similar trick without ending up with a bus…we should all have one immediately”.

Praise doesn’t get much higher than that. In fact, Jeremy has practiced what he preached and is currently on his third XC90.

Then you have the smaller XC60, which we can personally atest too, is at the top end of the segment. It can easily go head to head with BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz’s offerings.

So, why even bother with wagons when they can do SUV’s so well?

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