Volvo S60 News

And before you reply, understand that this Swede is big on playing with steel and engines - kinky! For the first time, Volvo is openly hawking partners to take it to the next stage and inject capital to ensure it remains a stand-alone business.Volvo product planner Lex Kerssemakers says the company's owner, the Chinese conglomerate Geely, wants Volvo to be a stand-alone operation "so we can fund our future and continue making new products''."We aren't in a hurry. We can live without an alliance for a few years yet because we have the C-platform of the V40 to work on," he says, adding however: "Volvo won't renew our technical partnership with Ford.''That means the end of a partnership with Ford - who until two years ago owned Volvo - and created the S40, V50, S60 and other models that shared platforms, components and drivetrains with Ford.The Ford Focus, for example, shares the platform with the S40 and V50 while the S60 is on the same base as the Ford Mondeo.Engines and transmissions are also common, with Volvo sharing Ford's six-speed dual-clutch automatic and the turbocharged four-cylinder engines including the 2-litre EcoBoost now in the Ford Falcon."We have to have alliances,''Kerssemakers says. "We're talking to some companies and we may look to share engines in the future with a partner. "Anyone who makes a C-platform (Focus size) is a possible partner.'' But though the relationship with Ford has ended, Kerssemakers says that doesn't mean it wouldn't forge another deal. "We're very happy with Ford - always have been,'' he says. "We could make an alliance with them work. You can't rule anything out today - everyone is talking to everyone else - just look at the PSA Peugeot and General Motors alliance.'' On the flip side, Kerssemakers says Volvo has a lot to offer in a relationship. "We are one to two years ahead of the game when it comes to plug-in technology,'' he says. "We can share that, depending on price. Were also talking electrification and safety with China. "We are a bit ahead of China. They look to us. But China is good at low-cost platforms and we could use that. There's nothing wrong with their quality.'' Kerssemakers says plug-in hybrid technology was "very, very expensive''. "It's only for diesels at the moment but we see huge benefits because it offers the best of two worlds - performance and economy. "It's ideal for a partnership.''

We'll see three new entrants due to lob within the next 12 months, including Mercedes-Benz's new A-Class.It will be joined in the fray by Audi's new A3 and the new Volvo V40, a shorter, hatchback variant of the S60 sedan for want of a better description.All are five door hatchbacks with front wheel drive. BMW's stylistically challenged 1-Series is the only rear wheel drive. Although some manufacturers are reluctant to admit it, the main competition for all players is VW?s super popular Golf.CLEAN SHEETThe Benz is a clean sheet project having nothing at all in common with the previous A-Class mini people mover. That job has been ceded to the new Benz B-Class and it's an effective device for everyday family motoring. New A-Class is taking Benz in a totally new direction that will open up a wider and younger customer base to the three pointed star. Early kick-off price guesstimates are in the $35,000 range.DIGITAL NATIVESIt's a car precisely targeting the Gen Y and Xers (so called Digital Natives) replete with a full array of connectivity right down to being able to seamlessly hook up your iPad or iPhone to the in-car info/control system.It will be a smart phone on wheels offering a smooth transition from a digital lifestyle to a digital driving style. And get this, there's a virtual co-driver you can question or instruct to operate in-car functions.LOOKSThe stunning looker, which bears a remarkable similarity to the A Concept of 2011, will be made in Germany, Hungary and tellingly, China. And we can expect a few other variants built on the same front wheel drive platform (moving to all wheel drive when AMG gets its hands on A-Class).UNDER THE BONNETIt will be powered by a range of existing and a couple of new Benz turbo direct injection petrol and turbodiesel engines rated from 80kW through to 155kW with capacities ranging from 1.6 through to 2.1-litres. Benz hasn't confirmed it but a three door hatch variant should become available a little further down the track and possibly a drop top cabriolet.Benz's performance partner AMG has been enlisted to develop certain A-Class parts so they have intimate knowledge of the car already. The A250 Sport enjoys significant AMG input. New A-Class will be offered with six-speed manual and seven-speed dual clutch manumatic transmissions and all models will have auto stop/start to optimise fuel economy.Camtronic that alters valve lift in the petrol engines for peak efficiency will also make an appearance. An 'Eco' mode will be available to squeeze out the last kilometre in fuel economy if you drive carefully.ACRONYMS R USBenz won't hold back on the acronym features list either that will see the new baby Benz fitted with a speed limiter (Distronic), radar-based Collision Prevention Assist (CPA), Pre-Safe collision preparation and Lane Keeping Assist as well as Fatigue Alert and numerous other electronic driver and safety aids. They have filtered down from larger models as has the luxury inventory.STYLEIt has an assertive stance on the road with a masculine frontal appearance and deeply sculpted panels. The ride height is low and a striking "pointillist" style grille is available on some models. It looks ready to pounce from all angles and inside, the assertive, quality theme carries through with seats for four and a reasonable boot space.The dash is from funky town featuring an electroplated look to many surfaces and impressive audio and lighting spex. It rates a strong five stars in crash testing and boasts newly developed pedestrian safety technology. The multi-faceted headlights feature a bank of LEDs for daytime running, indicators and parking lights. It rates a low 0.26Cd for aerodynamic efficiency.VERDICTIf it goes as good as it looks the new A-Class could be a world beater. It has the potential to lift Mercedes-Benz to a new level with a wider audience and still maintain that prestige aura associated with the 110 year old automotive brand. We find out soon enough.

But Volvo points out it's not alone and won't be the first European to use China's enormous manufacturing and labour expertise to make vehicles for smaller markets such as Australia.Volvo Cars product strategy vice president Lex Kerssemakers says it was "likely'' that cars would be made in China but insists there would be no difference in quality or performance."I can see Volvo cars for Australia coming from China,'' he says. "The only issue may be customer perception. But China makes the S80 for its own market that is equal in quality to the S80 that we make in Sweden. Quality is not an issue.'' Mr Kerssemakers says Volvo was "a small car manufacturer''. In an interview at the launch of the latest V40 small car in Geneva, he says: "We don't source parts from different manufacturers because we can't afford to.''"So all components that would go into a Volvo car built in China would be exactly the same as the components that went into a car built in our Swedish or Belgium factories. The way the car is made also would be no different. But the savings in distribution and duty (taxes) as well as the time frame make it very attractive."Customers don't really care where a car is made. They do care about quality, performance, reliability and so on. That wouldn't change.''Volvo currently makes two cars in China and all are only for domestic sale. The cars are a long wheelbase version of the S80 - which is exclusive to China - and the S60. The V40, revealed this week at the Geneva motor show, will also be built in China. Mr Kerssemakers says part of the reason Volvo is looking at increasing the number of its factories was to cope with predicted sales growth."We aim to sell 800,000 cars a year within a few years,'' he says. "Of that, 600,000 cars would be made in Europe and 200,000 in China. "Geely (the Chinese parent of Volvo) wants us to be financially self-sufficient and there's no hand-out from Geely. So we have to very carefully plan how we do business.''But he says that if the sales figures change and the need to build cars for export in China is reduced, Volvo wouldn't do it. However, given the upbeat predictions for the V40 small car, Mr Kerssemakers admitted that a China solution was "likely''.

Hundreds of new and updated cars arrive in Australia each year but only one is good enough to make the honour role for Carsguide COTY.This time around the prize fight is tougher than ever, with new arrivals for 2011 covering every size and price class, from the ordinary Chery J1 from China to the exotic Ferrari 458 Italia from Italy. Neither of them makes the COTY cut, but that's another story ...The reach for COTY 2011 contenders actually stretches back to the final months of last year, to include a couple of cars that just missed the 2011 cutoff, and this time around the newcomers must have hit showrooms by December 1.So, unfortunately, the all-new Toyota Camry is a non-starter. It's the same for the make-or-break four-cylinder Falcon.But the class of 2011 covers all the bases, from affordable mini cars through family and prestige cars to a hot new coupe. The hopefuls come from Europe, Asia and Japan, as well as right home in Australia.Setting the field for 2011 was not easy, particularly with the outgoing champion - the Volkswagen Polo - still casting a considerable shadow.But each of the COTY judges, who cover the Carsguide contenders and drive them in all conditions from coast to coast, has called up their personal favourites from Alfa Romeo through to Volkswagen to help guide the selection process.Then it is the final cull by the COTY veterans to produce the top 10 for a gruelling two-day shootout to consider everything from design and safety through to value and their driving ability on a wide range of roads from Ford's You Yangs proving ground to freeways, suburban streets and gravel roads on the outskirts of Melbourne.The field is set, the race is about to be run, but we cannot get ahead of ourselves.So here are the 10 COTY contenders ... now it's over to the judges: 

That was the summation of the Volvo S60 after the Swedes' most stylish sedan to date was put through its paces. It ranked highly in every category without being the benchmark performer in any of them. That makes it a serious car to consider if you're shopping in the $50K range. The fact it came within a vote of earning Carsguide's CoTY award shows just how capable a vehicle it is. It's a bit like your partner - you'll fantasise being with Miranda Kerr/Orlando Bloom but happily settle for the attractive partner who pays attention to you rather than themselves. Why? Because they're dependable and not high maintenance. Throw in Volvo's five-year warranty and you are talking about a vehicle that makes long-term sense. And that's what the ownership experience is about. - The S60's liftback profile looks good - the boxy look fo past Volvos is gone but the focus on safety remains, the standard fitout is great - the centre console was modelled on a Nokia phone and is oh-so-simple to to use - and there's room to move in the front or back seats. It has Bluetooth, rear parking sensors, an auto-dimming rear mirror and auto headlights/wipers, cruise control and daul-zone climate control as standard. The seats are not going to weary the backside and the brakes are hefty units that don't fade under repeated pounding. It also comes with the city-safe package to prevent drivers from unintentionally running down pedestrians and it carries a five-star ANCAP for the basic structural strength and sofware safety suite. One of the few complaints levelled at the car was the 1.6-litre turbo engine is fairly peaky - it takes a deft right foot to launch it off the line without chirping the front wheels or letting it momentarily bog down. Underway it is a delight to drive - the suspension is compliant enough to absorb small bumps without smacking the nose into the ground when the big hits arri ve and the six-speed dual-clutch transmission is far smarter than its co-developed Ford counterpart, finding the right gear first time and hanging on to it when needed. It came close, but missed out on lighting the cigar. That doesn't mean it won't light up any buyer who can afford one. It is cheaper than its German rivals and a smarter bet than the top-end Japanese counterparts. And that's why it came within a whisker of being the best value-for-money in Australia for 2011.   Volvo S60 T4 Price: from $48,990 Engine: 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol Power: 132kW/240Nm Transmission: Six-speed automatic Thirst: 7.4 litres/100km, 173g/km CO2.

Final drinks are being called for the thirsty six- and eight-cylinder engines in the Swedish carmaker's line-up.Volvo says its future lies in more efficient four-three-and even two-cylinder units, with power levels raised by technology such as turbocharging, supercharging and the addition of electric motors.Global CEO Stefan Jacoby says the smaller, smarter engines are the only sensible way to go."This is a logical step. You only engineer logically for four cylinders," he says. "We can with a modern top-of-the-class engine technology get the same performance as a high-performance six-cylinder engine.""The technology available brings you the same fun to drive as with the classical six or eight cylinders," he says. "The time of (six and eight) cylinders are over. It goes into the direction of four cylinders. Three cylinders or even two cylinders. Which are powered by turbochargers and twin-chargers and compressors and all these things."The four-cylinder wave will come in with the arrival of a modular platform strategy, called Scalable Platform Architecture, which can be adapted for vehicles across the entire range.Some aspects of the SPA platform will be seen in the extended C30 architecture used for the new V40 that will arrive next year to start edging out the S40 and V50, but the first vehicle to be fully based on the new development will be the 2014 replacement for the aging XC90 SUV.

The Swedish car maker is taking its pedestrian detection safety system - that brakes automatically if it detects a pedestrian in the vehicle's path - a step further by equipping it to detect animals. The anti-roadkill device is being developed primarily to prevent moose strikes in the brand's home country - Swedish statistics show 7000 of the 47,000 animal-related crashes last year involved the large animals. The new incarnation of the safety system is part of Volvo's 2020 road safety vision for 2020 to eliminate occupants suffering serious injuries in a new Volvo. Development engineers are tweaking the pedestrian detection system to recognise different animal species, beginning with the larger animals most likely to cause serious injury - for example moose, deer and reindeer. Volvo active safety systems' Andreas Eidehall says the radar/infra-red camera system monitors the road ahead, alerts the driver with an audible signal and brakes automatically if the driver fails to react. "In cases in which it cannot help the driver entirely avoid the collision, the system will slow down the car sufficiently to help reduce the force of impact and thus of serious injuries," he says. "In an impact with a moose, there is a relatively high risk of personal injury since it is common for the animal to end up on or roll across the front of the car and its windscreen." Volvo Australia's Jaedene Hudson says the brand's new accident avoidance technology would be beneficial to drivers here. "In Australia, kangaroos and wombats cause the most damage in traffic accidents," she says. Ms Hudson says the company was in discussions about Australian fauna and the system's criteria. "Volvo has also indicated that there may be an opportunity to visit Australia to test the technology on our wildlife," she says. The Australian Veterinary Association's statistics show more than 5 per cent of serious road accidents are caused by animal strike, with the numbers of unreported accidents likely to be much higher. In NSW alone more than 9000 serious accidents involve animal strikes each year.

The midsize sedan, which starts from almost $52,000, has a large boot that would readily accommodate at least a temporary use space saver. But the Swedish carmaker deems a can of sealant sufficient.While it is not unusual for compact sports or performance cars to have no backup tyre, BMW has been the only carmaker in Australia that goes without a spare of any sort in its mainstream, family-size vehicles. But the German carmaker fits run flat tyres which it says can be driven for 200km after a puncture.Volvo, however, uses conventional tyres, which means motorists face being marooned in the event of flat."Because of the car's design, it's simply a question of the space," Volvo Australia chief Alan Desselss said."Obviously the feeling was that the technology of tyres is getting so much better that we believe we can take that risk and not inconvenience people. We believe that having more space and less weight is the benefit."We do have great faith in the tyres. We're very confident that's the way of the future. We know people are still very anxious, but the instances of tyre failure are so minute."That said, the day you do have a puncture and there isn't a spare it will become an issue. So our challenge is to have a support systems such as roadside assist proactive."NRMA technical spokesman Jack Haley says buyers "need to be clear of what's offered" in terms of a spare."In this case the option is road service. If it's an unusual type of tyre its may take some days to get one to you. Some types are not always available."Former rally driver Ed Ordynski, who has spent decades traversing rural and remote Australia in road and competition cars, says he "would not countenance travelling beyond the city without a full size spare".He criticised Desselss' arguments over weight and space savings."It's the consumer who carries all the risk," Ordynski says. "These cans of sealant are of dubious use."And what if its 2.30am and you're out back of Deniliquin? If road service can be called, the car will will probably have to moved away on a flatbed."It doesn't even have to be a remote area. It's easy to imagine a mother and her kids stuck on the hard shoulder of the Hume Highway. It becomes an issue of personal safety."Ordynski said while full size spares were heavy, they were "really insigificant" in the context of a car's overall weight. He is also concerned that safety-conscious buyers might buy a spare and endanger themselves by failing to secure it.

LIKES: S60's smart entry price DISLIKES: Still about as "sexy" or "naughty" as John Howard ... in a driver pleasing fashion, the new S60 sedan could be the first Volvo four door in recent history to accomplish both. That at least is the promise an Volvo Australia's Alan Desselss, who acknowledged that the use "sexy" of and "naughty" in the ad campaign was just a bit daring. He thoughtfully obliged the brand's traditional buyers with a presentation that was the most boring and lame of AIMS opening. Of interest to all, however, is the pricing set for the S60's local release in March. The entry-level T5 with a new 177kW 2.0-litre  four cylinder (not five) petrol turbo is $51,950 - putting it notably under BMW's 3 Series against which Volvo claims its new sedan is capable of competing. The D5 five cylinder turbo diesel is $57,950 and the range toppings T6 3.0-litre twin turbo petrol is $64,950. Unlike the front drive T5, the D5 and T6 are all-wheel-drive. Volvo full and formidable array of active and passive safety measures are standard with the much-vaunted pedestrian avoidance system optional.

It can also perform a full emergency brake application to avoid a collision.  This important ability is aimed squarely at a growing proportion of road trauma – pedestrian collisions. In Europe, these account for 14 per cent of all traffic fatalities, in the US the figure is 11 per cent, and in China it is a worrying 26 per cent.The new S60 can help to reduce this problem. It uses a hi-tech radar unit built into the car’s grille, plus a camera fitted near the central rear-view mirror and smart software to sort out all the information – and command the action if the driver fails to respond to the threat.The radar detects objects in front of the car, while the camera and its software identifies them – a complex task, given that pedestrians come in a range of sizes right down to just 80cm tall (ie children).In emergency situations the driver first receives an audible warning combined with a flashing light in the windscreen’s head-up display. The system prepares for braking by pre-charging the brake system. If the driver fails to react, an emergency braking manoeuvre is automatically performed.Half of all crashes involving pedestrians occur at speeds below 25km/h, and the Volvo S60’s pedestrian detection system with full auto braking can avoid collisions with pedestrians at speeds up to 35km/h.At higher speeds the system still functions to reduce impact speed – and therefore mitigate injury severity.  This advanced system incorporates Volvo’s City Safety technology, which brakes for vehicles stopped in front if the driver fails to respond – and has the potential to save millions of dollars worldwide in prevented, or reduced, insurance claims.The advanced new S60 will be on display for the first time at the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney.