New S60 to be Volvo's first diesel-free offering

It is already well-known that Volvo Cars has committed to a long-term future beyond the traditional combustion engine. As a means to further this agenda, the new Volvo S60 sedan (to be launched later, this year) will be the first Volvo to be produced without a diesel engine.

In fact, all new Volvo models launched from 2019 will be available as mild petrol hybrids, plug-in petrol hybrids or battery electric vehicles. This is, so far, the most comprehensive electrification strategy seen in the car industry. Volvo Cars was the first traditional carmaker to commit to all-out electrification in July 2017.

“Our future is electric and we will no longer develop a new generation of diesel engines,” said Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief executive of Volvo Cars. “We will phase-out cars with only an internal combustion engine, with petrol hybrid versions as a transitional option as we move towards full electrification. The new S60 represents the next step in that commitment.”

At the 2018 Beijing motor show last month, Volvo Cars reinforced its electrification strategy by stating that it aims for fully electric cars to make up 50 percent of its global sales by 2025. The announcement positioned the carmaker as a powerful player in China – the world’s leading market for electrified cars.

The new S60 is a premium mid-size sports sedan. It is based on Volvo’s in-house developed Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) – the same architecture that underpins the company’s award-winning new 90 series and 60 series cars. The V60 – S60’s estate sibling – was launched earlier this year in Stockholm.

The new S60 will initially be available with a range of four-cylinder Drive-E petrol engines as well as with two petrol plug-in hybrid versions. Mild hybrid versions will follow next year.

Production of the new S60 will start this fall at Volvo Cars’ brand-new manufacturing facility outside Charleston, South Carolina. The Charleston plant will be the only manufacturing location for the new S60, which implies that while American-built S60s will be sold in the US market, they will also be exported overseas.

In the Indian market, Volvo is expected to launch its new Mercedes GLA-rival, the XC40, by July this year. While the Swedish brand's current-gen S60 does retail in the market in four trims - D4 Momentum (Rs 38.51 lakh), D4 R-Design (Rs 40.78 lakh), D5 Cross Country (Rs 44.27 lakh) and the 367hp Polestar (Rs 56.02 lakh). (prices ex-showroom, India)