Next-gen Volvo S60 will be larger, follow S90 formula

At the recent launch of the new Volvo XC90 in Malaysia, Kent Falck, business director for the Cluster 90 range of cars at Volvo revealed a few details to paultan.org over the brand’s coming Cluster 60 models.

Specifically, the Cluster 60 range consists of the S60 sedan, V60 estate and the XC60 crossover SUV. While these models may not fall under Falck’s direct care, his XC90, S90 and V90 models were the first to ride on the brand’s new SPA platform. And, given that the Cluster 60 cars will soon adopt the same architecture, technology sharing naturally led to the business director’s extended knowledge.

Speaking exclusively to paultan.org, we quizzed the Volvo chief about the brand’s coming models, and expectedly, he wasn’t prepared to reveal too much. He did, however, suggest that the Cluster 60 sedans will also grow in size, just like the new S90 has over its predecessor, the S80.

Volvo’s outgoing models have been of a similar size to their respective German rivals. For example, the previous S80 measured in at 4,851 mm, while the BMW F10 5 Series’ length spanned 4,899 mm. It’s a similar case for the S60, which at 4,628 mm is only marginally longer than the 4,624 mm of the 3 Series.

As mentioned, with the new S90 (pictured here) growing even larger in size than the current 5 Series, (4,963 mm to 4,899 mm), it appears to be in Volvo’s strategy to provide larger Swedish alternatives to Germany’s elite across its sedan range, at least.

The Volvo business director suggested that the S60 will break away from the segment’s average size and present itself as a slightly larger vehicle. “The new S90 will still target the 5 Series and the Audi A6, and yes, the S60 will also grow (in size),” said Falck.

He continued, “it (S60) will be based on the new SPA platform. From an industrial standpoint, it’s quite simple for us to do that now — it’s not that much work to stretch the car longer. The SPA platform doesn’t require us to re-engineer anything about the cars.”

Falck also confirmed that exterior designs of the new Cluster 60 models are in their final stages of approval. Thanks to an inside source, we also understand that a clay model for the next-gen XC60 already exists and that it features a radical design departure from its predecessor.

Following the recent debut of its S90 sedan, it is expected that Volvo will debut its V90 estate next, completing the trio of an SUV, sedan and estate. After that, we expect to see a new compact SUV model from the brand’s Cluster 40, being the XC40 that we spied not too long ago.

But unlike the Cluster 90 and 60, the Cluster 40 range will be underpinned by the brand’s CMA platform. Like the SPA architecture, CMA is also a modular platform, but is reserved for smaller Volvo models.

Only after the mentioned Cluster 90 and 40 models are revealed, should we see the new S60, V60 and XC60 appear. Given that they will also ride on Volvo’s versatile SPA platform, we wouldn’t be surprised at all to see a Twin Engine plug-in hybrid variant offered, along with several other variants that feature the brand’s new petrol and diesel 2.0 litre four-pot Drive-E engines.

GALLERY: Volvo V90 official photos

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