You get the feeling Volvo is like a new lottery winner. After years of Spartan interior details and perhaps-necessary minimalistic presentation (some of which was very pretty), the Swedish car company hung a Monet next to its black-light poster.
Look no further than the 2015 Volvo V60 as proof that the car company has a bigger plan for the U.S. market thanks to a healthy dose of Chinese cash. The company’s small wagon is completely new, even though it looks like it’s been in the lineup for years. Hop in the saddle and you’re greeted with an LED instrument display that makes the old cluster look like it was written in Sanskrit.
How things have changed.
Starting with the V60, the small sedan and wagon is the first offensive in Volvo’s assault to sell more cars in the U.S. A few days ago, Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson told the press that he’d like to sell 100,000 cars in America soon. That’s up from 62,000 sold here last year, and would outpace Lincoln. How’s that for sticking it to your former Ford boss?
Cars like the V60 play an important role in that swing. The small car — sedan or wagon — is the meat and potatoes for luxury carmakers in the states. Automakers like Mercedes and BMW would like to sell near-exotic, nuclear-powered coupes all day, but the small sedans make up the lion’s share of daily sales. It’s important to get the small stuff right.
To that end, the V60 fits pretty well within that competition. The small, turbocharged four beats BMW’s turbo four; the Scandinavian mill is 240 horsepower at full gallop, BMW’s is 180 hp. The power kicks in relatively high in the RPM range — 6,000 rpm — and with some lag. It’s not long, perhaps long enough to yell at the kids in the back to hang on. Our test model, the front-wheel drive T5 Drive-E wagon starts at the bottom of the V60 range with a bigger engine T5 (same, name I know) available in all-wheel-drive, a T6 (turbo six) and S60 (sports package) available. A special edition S60 Polestar is available to fight in the super sport sedan segment, but don’t stick the kids back there unless you’re willing to clean Crunchberries out of the carpet.
And it’s best in the V60 Drive-E to offer the backseat to children. The confines may be too cramped for adults for long stretches or hauls, but the V60 is roomy enough for a small family and a small trip to Home Depot. The 43.8 cubic feet of cargo space is large enough for a couple of mountain bikes or a semi-aggressive run to IKEA. The V60 reads larger than the 109.3-inch wheelbase looks, which is good enough for a pleasant surprise. Not a “It’s a pony!” surprise, but pleasant nonetheless.
You’ll get the feeling that not much on the Volvo is really overkill. The exterior, while new, isn’t brash or flashy. The same Scandinavian subtlety that made the 1980s bricks with tires Volvos is the same that makes the slightly rounded bricks today. The 2015 Volvo V60 has sharp, attractive lines on the hood that reach toward the front grille and a sharp belt line that curves over the rear wheels slightly to better define the wagon. The roof line arches back toward the rear, which narrows the rear quarter windows, but it’s a better option than the old wagon’s cliff and square rear end. It’s a small, sharp wagon and unmistakably Volvo.
But where the automaker breaks with tradition is details in the interior. The multifunction instrument display is pretty and interesting, but also unapologetically un-Volvo. Same goes for the infotainment display in the center, which has been around for a couple years.
In the luxury spectrum, Volvo played the part of “premium” — little flash, which made for a niche following. On the other end were “opulent” cars like the Mercedes Benz C-Class that had plenty of interesting gadgets that would become hopelessly dated in four years. I liked the space Volvo used to occupy, but only because I appreciated the understated quality of having a little analog in a massively digital world.
There’s a connection, however, with the V60 that others in its segment are lacking. The Volvo still retains a quirkiness that translates to character on the road. Knowing that you’re driving a car that’s still somewhat specialized is relatively rare in a market being saturated with competitors throwing everything into the small luxury segment. Starting at $35,200 (our tester received several options, including safety features that priced it at $42,500) the V60 isn’t the cheapest option among its competitors.
But considering the automaker’s ambition in the U.S., it’ll need to carve out its own market soon. Getting the small stuff is right when you’re looking to grow, you know.
Aaron Cole is managing editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at acole@aurorasentinel.com