Volvo is a brand on form, and the form factor of its latest range is – in our opinion – the main reason behind the carmaker’s recent success. The XC90 and S90/V90 family of large cars kickstarted the design renaissance, followed by the chic XC40 SUV. This momentum will be sustained by the S60 premium compact sedan, which is set to arrive in Malaysia in the final quarter of 2019.
The third-generation midsize sedan by the Swedish brand was unveiled in June 2018 – it’s the first Volvo to be made in the United States and global distribution will begin in Q2 this year. Malaysia is Volvo’s regional assembly hub, and the S60 will eventually roll off the Shah Alam plant for domestic consumption and exports to Thailand. Early batches could be CBU imports, something not unusual for Volvo Car Malaysia (VCM).
The international press drive event that happened in California late last year had two variants of the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class-rivalling sedan on the platter – the S60 T8 Twin Engine Polestar Engineered and the S60 T6 AWD R-Design.
It’s early days and local variants have yet to be confirmed, but we’re not expecting the Polestar-tweaked car – stuffed to the gills with branded kit such as Ohlins adjustable suspension and Brembo six-pot brakes – to reach Malaysia as it will be prohibitively expensive. Besides, the 405 hp/670 Nm plug-in hybrid is also produced in limited numbers.
The T6 AWD is more likely. The most powerful non-PHEV variant is motivated by a 2.0 litre four-cylinder Drive-E engine, which is under the hood of all S60s. In T6 guise, it gets a turbocharger and supercharger to make 310 hp and 400 Nm of torque. The twincharged engine is mated to an Aisin-made eight-speed torque converter automatic transmission.
When local assembly starts, it’s reasonable to expect a CKD T5 with 254 hp/350 Nm (FWD, just turbo) and (non-Polestar) Twin Engine plug-in hybrid variants – the latter will be dependent on CKD PHEV incentives by the government, of course.
As usual, base Momentum, luxury Inscription and sporty R-Design trim levels will be available globally, but expect VCM to champion the latter for its most sporting model. It’s part of a wider trend in the premium segment – see the popularity of M Sport and AMG Line in otherwise far from sporting variants.
The vital stats all look good, but the new S60’s trump card – for me at least – is the way it looks. Which is fantastic. I’m no Volvo fanboy, and my preference for premium sedans skews towards understated handsomeness (the B9 Audi A4 and B8 Volkswagen Passat happen to be from the same clan), but the S60 could very well be the perfect blend of eye-catching and class.
Design wise, there’s more going on here than in the S90, and while instantly recognisable as the smaller sibling, the S60’s body sports plenty of touches to make it look more dynamic – a scaled down S90 it’s definitely not.
A few of those moves – such as the gentle curve of the rear haunches, the faster roofline and the moving up of the rear license plate – are obvious, but there are plenty more subtle yet effective touches. The sport message is further amplified by the R-Design body standard on the T6 AWD and T8 Polestar Engineered, but it’s never OTT.
These are all explained in detail by Lisa Reeves from the S60 design team. In the walk-around video above, Reeves talks about the new sedan’s proportions (longer, lower and wider; front wheels pushed forward, longer rear overhang) and points out the S60’s “athlete” cues and differences to the S90. The Brit designer also introduces us to the finer points of the S60’s clean and classy cabin, which she personally worked on.
The hardware is good, but it’s just so easy on the eye, this new S60. If all goes to plan, it’ll be coming to Malaysia in Q4 2019. Stay tuned.
GALLERY: Volvo S60 T6 AWD R-Design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-Design exterior
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- New Volvo S60 R-Design exterior
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- New Volvo S60 R-Design exterior
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- New Volvo S60 R-Design exterior
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- New Volvo S60 R-Design exterior
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- New Volvo S60 R-Design exterior
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- New Volvo S60 R-Design exterior
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- New Volvo S60 R-Design exterior
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- New Volvo S60 R-Design exterior
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- New Volvo S60 R-Design exterior
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- New Volvo S60 R-Design exterior
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- New Volvo S60 R-Design exterior
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- New Volvo S60 R-Design exterior
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- New Volvo S60 R-Design exterior
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- New Volvo S60 R-Design exterior
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- New Volvo S60 R-Design exterior
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
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- New Volvo S60 R-design
GALLERY: Volvo S60 T8 Twin Engine Polestar Engineered
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- New Volvo S60 Polestar Engineered
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- New Volvo S60 Polestar Engineered
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- New Volvo S60 Polestar Engineered
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- New Volvo S60 Polestar Engineered
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- New Volvo S60 Polestar Engineered
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- New Volvo S60 Polestar Engineered
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- New Volvo S60 Polestar Engineered
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- New Volvo S60 Polestar Engineered
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- New Volvo S60 Polestar Engineered
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- New Volvo S60 Polestar Engineered
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- New Volvo S60 Polestar Engineered
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- New Volvo S60 Polestar Engineered
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- New Volvo S60 Polestar Engineered
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- New Volvo S60 Polestar Engineered
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- New Volvo S60 Polestar Engineered
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- New Volvo S60 Polestar Engineered
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Under Geely hands, brands revive and moving forward. Under others hands, brands decline further or backstabbing each other. The synergy of groups moving towards a common goal. Even small partners r given a seat on the table.
Geely, VolvoCar, P1, Mesidis, VolvoTrucks, Lotus, L&C > all
Under Geely hands, brands (except P1) revive and moving forward. Under others hands, brands decline further or backstabbing each other as well as P1. The synergy of groups moving towards a common goal. Even small partners r given a seat on the table but P1 r given a seat on the toilet.
All, Geely, VolvoCar, Mesidis, VolvoTrucks, Lotus, L&C > Proton
Lolz! Failed trolling is failed trolling. Bash oso dunno bash where. Dun even make any sense. Double lolz!
Next time u reply me, try to sober up ur dupes. Then u wun be so foolish to talk bollocks here. I really take pity on u.
He trolling also cannot done properly. No wonder his sales went down the drain. Relying on bullshit and lies can only get him so far before everyone else wise up to his dumbassery.
Mazda 3 any time win over this
Mazda 3 is anytime a Toilet Bowl Car and never will win over this. Same goes for Toilet Bowl CX3 & CX5 SUV that will never win over any XC40, X1, XC60 , GLC and X3 .
Lucky Geely saved Volvo. But Volvo could be saved because the only had financial difficulty. Swedish workers work hard though.
In Proton, financial problem is one thing but so many pemalas and dead logs. Geely having a hard time to get workers to even come to work.
Proton may fail like this. It is not the same as Volvo
i gotta say bro, Volvo is indeed on the up n up. and this new S60 is one well chiseled, handsome and swanky swede…
The trapezoid of the grille looks more prominent and shares more outward likeness to the same grille on Volvo trucks and Volvo buses. This may be another iconic design features for both Volvos much like their angled bar and logo.
In terms of big grille implementation this is much better looking than the fugly BMW latest gen.
Let me tell you guys a fact:
Perodua sales at a kampung country only can hit 200k per year
Volvo global sales only manage to hit 500k per year. What a lousy Volvo!
Well I’m sure if they sell at P2 prices I would be rolling down the street in a S90 T8 AWD R-Design now and my neighbors maid would be washing her XC40.
Perodua manufacture junk and unsafe new cars but Volvo produces Premium and safe cars
2018, Volvo sold 650K globally which more than Malaysia total sales of only 620K .
Malaysia is a silly and small vehicle market so Malu to mentioned the name Malaysia and Perodua
Ferrari sell around 10k cars per year. So, your P2 better than Ferrari? What an idiot!
Oh, your ‘fact’ sounds stupid. So, your 200k/year Perodua better than 10k/year Ferrari?
We do see a lot of XC90s on the road but not too many XC60s which is worrisome. Plus the S90s are still a rare breed to be seen here too. Volvo needs to join forces with the rest to push for incentives on the PHEV front so they can lower prices for more sales volume. A fully kitted T5 Momentum to go ahead with the C200 and the upcoming awesome G20 320i is a must. But I think most will be waiting for the S/V40 which strikes a right balance for size and price for a premium vehicle. Just take a look at how many CLA and A class on the road. Personally I’d be delighted to get the V40 which maybe a crossover.
The Volks Passat better value and cheaper. Halve the price of this overpriced junk
Right,
Volks Passat is cheaper and more problematic than this .
Moreover Passat is not as handsome as this.
Most complain about the junk VW Passat with it price in used commanding like waterfall .
Volvo Lotus Geely > all
I’d like to join PaulTan to do the talking. I like talking about cars and its features a lot..!!
Is it me, or did you just take a sweep at Danny?
In fairness, his pronunciation is rough. That wonderfully soft spoken Swedish lady is also speaking English as a second language. I could listen to her read the dictionary.
The world can understand Swede English while they have trouble understanding our Manglish. Who is right and who is wrong ah?
Front wheels drive is not really attractive if compare BMW and Mercedes or even Audi got quarto as an option.
Absolutely outstanding.
Would rather get this than the
JUNK VW PASSAT,
Unreliable BMW 3 series
Smaller body & problematic junk C Class
easy job for Lisa as the car is absolutely good looking
The epitome of Swedish minimalism. Though the interior is abit too clunky imho. Let’s just see how it well drives first. But considering the S90’s capable dynamics, this one should fair pretty well if not better.