Review: Volvo V60

A jolly good showing by Volvo last year saw the Chinese-owned Swedish icon sell more cars than ever before. The total of 763,389 vehicles included 175,194 fully electric cars, up by 54 per cent, and 177,593 plug-in hybrids.

You may wonder what else contributed to the total. The answer is mild hybrid petrol combustion engines, which outsold the rest at 410,602. They are more affordable and perform well.

Amazingly, one model, the XC60, took 30 per cent of all sales - 230,853 buyers for the chunky SUV. With Geely’s money Volvo has prospered.

European sales were up 25 per cent to 369,685 of which 65pc were fully electric and plug-in hybrids. We, the major European island nation, have always liked Volvos, as once we liked that other fine Scandi brand, sadly defunct SAAB which no Chinese knight cared to rescue.

Last year Britons bought 66,408 Volvos, a hike of more than 16,000 and good business for a premium brand, with prices ranging from the handy electric EX30 at £32,850 to the heftier electric EX90 at £96,255. The cheapest petrol model is the mild hybrid XC40, currently on offer at £35,310.

The EX30 has the lowest carbon footprint of any Volvo. It has been on show at Cornwall’s Eden Project, where Volvo has extended its official electric car partnership until 2027 with a fleet of EX40s. They are also used by teams working on Eden Projects in Morecambe, expected by 2027, and Dundee - now delayed until 2030. Owners of fully electric Volvos can have a 2-for-1 entry offer to the Cornish Eden Project this year.

Volvo began making cars almost 100 years ago. Its name is from the Latin for roll - it once made ball bearings. The grille logo of a circle and arrow is the symbol for iron: tough.

Its cars and its ethos are focused on safety. Today its factories are in the US, Europe and China. It is a brand I have known since my parents had the brick-like, rear-wheel-drive saloons in the 1970s, used for towing caravans and for getting to work. Their best friend had one.

Over the years I have driven Volvos on press events in America and the Arctic Circle and French Alps. In California the integrity of the rear-facing child seat area in an estate was evident after being rammed unintentionally by another. The cargo/child area was protected. The front of the offending Volvo crumpled to absorb the impact energy. No one was hurt. The only casualty was when someone tripped walking to lunch and was carted off to hospital.

In Lapland we drove on frozen lakes in a publicity jaunt called Ice and Fire. The fire was the birchwood fire pit in the synthetic wigwam where we were eating until sparks ignited the top vent and we exited rapidly as it burnt down. With it went the lovely rugs and reindeer skins we had been sitting on.

In the Alps we did timed laps round an ice circuit in a saloon, advised that it would be impossible to flip over. Not quite, as a hapless colleague proved. I was second fastest and awarded one of those battery powered hot keys which were useful for de-icing locks — back in the day.

My final icy Volvo story was 22 years ago, Boxing Day in Penzance and I was swimming across the bay to Newlyn. When my teeth started to chatter I turned back and was almost too chilled to dress but solace came from the heated seats in the V70 on the quay. Oh, they were so slow…

Forward to now and I can report a much quicker response from the heated seats and the heated steering wheel. The model is the V60 estate, built in Sweden and Belgium, rescued last year after a customer outcry when the company said it was dropping estates and saloons because 90 per cent of sales were SUVs. Also reprieved is the longer V90. The saloon format will return as the electric ES90 later this year.

Current offers price the V60 with a mild hybrid engine from £41,370. That is the car you see here. The business tax friendly and much more powerful plug in hybrid V60 AWD is £48,935. The V90 PHEV 4x4 is £59,280 and has been greeted by the Caravan and Motorhome Club which gave it best in class in the 1700kg to 1800kg category. The XC60 T6 AWD was the CMC’s overall winner.

The V60 is well specified, with familiar passive and active safety systems. The power comes smoothly and quietly and on 19in wheels with 40 aspect Michelins the ride is comfortable and dynamically satisfying if you are that sort of Volvo driver.

The interior is equally satisfying, with practical niceties like a lift-up floor divider with bag hooks in the boot. The total supported load length is 63in by 40in wide — with room below for a space-saver wheel.

Acceleration is strong when needed. We didn’t get near Volvo’s economy figures, averaging a bashful 35mpg overall.

My Volvo of choice, the V70 Cross Country AWD fell off the roster some years ago. I’d be pleased to have the mild hybrid V60 but if you want a V60 with AWD then that’s the V60 PHEV.

Fact File

Volvo V60 B4 mild hybrid

Price: From £41,370

Engine: Two-litre petrol turbo with battery boost

Power: 194bhp

Torque: 221lb ft

Transmission: Automatic seven-speed

Top speed: 112mph

0-62mph: 7.6 seconds

Economy: 44.8mpg (not matched in testing)

Tank: 13.2 gallons (60 litres)

CO 2 emissions:143g/km

Length: 188in (4.8m)

Braked towing limit: 1800kg

More: 01628 42522 www.volvo.co.uk