NAIAS 2015: Volvo S60 Cross Country Bows

by Cameron Aubernon

Published: January 13th, 2015

Coming to a Volvo showroom this summer is the high-riding crossover-sedan hybrid (as in plants, not Prii) S60 Cross Country.

The S60 Cross Country receives a 2.5-inch lift above the standard S60, with the 250-horsepower T5 turbo-five powering all four corners. 18-inch wheels deliver the power to the road, with 19-inch wheels optional.

The S60 Cross Country will arrive in the United States, Canada, Russia and Europe in limited numbers beginning this summer.

#Detroit2015 #Naias2015 #S60CrossCountry #Volvo

Cameron Aubernon

Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.

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Mjz on Jan 14, 2015

Matte finish paint is awful on any car, and especially on this one.

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- PrincipalDan on Jan 14, 2015
  
  Yes matte finish is a gimmick that needs to die.
  
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- Corey Lewis on Jan 14, 2015
  
  @PrincipalDan I don't get what it's supposed co "convey." Luxury? Not really. Sporty? Nope, shiny red does that better. Exclusivity? No, looks like primer.
  
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Tayu on Jan 14, 2015

Ughhhh, this just reminds me how much I lusted after the 1999 Subaru Legacy SUS. In general, something about the exterior proportions, interior usability, and (depending on the engine) mechanical hardiness of this generation of Subaru Legacy is almost perfect...so why not a luxed-out, raised, spoiler- and body-clad sedan version? Anyway, as seems to be the case with Volvo for the past few years: as cool as this is, they just seem to be missing the mark in terms of price/content/value proposition. You know how marques that have achieved volume attempt to push upwards in terms of prestige/brand recognition? Perhaps Volvo should consider producing some higher volume, lower cost cars? They already have the positive brand recognition, although it is eroding among the current generation of car buyers fast... I would bet they could make a durable, cheap, fun competitor to the Mercedes GLA. But it seems like nobody over at Volvo is paying attention these days,

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Kjhkjlhkjhkljh kljhjkhjklhkjh A prelude is a bad idea. There is already Acura with all the weird sport trims. This will not make back it's R&D money.
Analoggrotto I don't see a red car here, how blazing stupid are you people?
Redapple2 Love the wheels
Redapple2 Good luck to them. They used to make great cars. 510. 240Z, Sentra SE-R. Maxima. Frontier.
Joe65688619 Under Ghosn they went through the same short-term bottom-line thinking that GM did in the 80s/90s, and they have not recovered say, to their heyday in the 50s and 60s in terms of market share and innovation. Poor design decisions (a CVT in their front-wheel drive "4-Door Sports Car", model overlap in a poorly performing segment (they never needed the Altima AND the Maxima...what they needed was one vehicle with different drivetrain, including hybrid, to compete with the Accord/Camry, and decontenting their vehicles: My 2012 QX56 (I know, not a Nissan, but the same holds for the Armada) had power rear windows in the cargo area that could vent, a glass hatch on the back door that could be opened separate from the whole liftgate (in such a tall vehicle, kinda essential if you have it in a garage and want to load the trunk without having to open the garage door to make room for the lift gate), a nice driver's side folding armrest, and a few other quality-of-life details absent from my 2018 QX80. In a competitive market this attention to detai is can be the differentiator that sell cars. Now they are caught in the middle of the market, competing more with Hyundai and Kia and selling discounted vehicles near the same price points, but losing money on them. They invested also invested a lot in niche platforms. The Leaf was one of the first full EVs, but never really evolved. They misjudged the market - luxury EVs are selling, small budget models not so much. Variable compression engines offering little in terms of real-world power or tech, let a lot of complexity that is leading to higher failure rates. Aside from the Z and GT-R (low volume models), not much forced induction (whether your a fan or not, look at what Honda did with the CR-V and Acura RDX - same chassis, slap a turbo on it, make it nicer inside, and now you can sell it as a semi-premium brand with higher markup). That said, I do believe they retain the technical and engineering capability to do far better. About time management realized they need to make smarter investments and understand their markets better.