There's been a lot of speculation regarding a second SUV for Volvo, but we have the inside scoop! And on top of that, we have spoken to a Swedish insider involved in the project who revealed to us breaking news.
Volvo will be introducing a "concept" version of their newest utility vehicle this coming January at the NAIAS in Detroit, but the production version - to be called XC60 - won't arrive until the second quarter of 2008 - allowing it to carry either the 2008 or 2009 model year designation. There was no misprint: though the name XC50 has been mentioned several times in the media, Volvo will be calling their new SUV the XC60 when the concept debuts in Detroit.
Codenamed Y278, the XC (Cross Country) 60 will carry over many styling features from the XC90, and will measure in slightly larger than Toyota's new Rav4. It will share the new EUCD platform with the V70, and possibly engines from the S40 and V50, and bits and pieces with Land Rover's Freelander, including the Haldex AWD system. Swedish? Sure. But we expect the upcoming XC60 to be built in Gent, Belgium!
