Volvo V60 Cross Country Is Here To Make A Statement

It's been a while since the V60 estate was revealed by Volvo, sitting on a driveway of a suburban house. While that memory did not take much time to fade, this one will surely stick around for a while. Volvo has now raised the estate and has added more than just some body cladding to make it a member of the Cross Country family. In fact, it was the V60 which was given the first ever Cross Country treatment almost 20 years ago.

Based on the Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) platform which also underpins other 60 and 90 series cars, the V60 Cross Country has been given 75 mm of extra ground clearance for a more worry-free drive. Also, it now gets Volvo's all-wheel drive, specially developed Cross Country chassis and suspension as well which should make it as capable a soft-roader as most of the 'urban-SUVs' out there. The only thing that you don't get compared to an SUV here is a commanding seating position, a cramped cabin and high fuel bills.

Add to this the elegant, leather-wrapped and feature loaded cabin with Volvo Cars’ Sensus Connect infotainment system which features Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, 4G connectivity, car functions, navigation, connected services and in-car entertainment apps, and it becomes almost the ideal family car for those occasional jaunts off the road.

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It’s a Volvo, hence a strong push towards safety is a given. The V60 Cross Country comes with Hill Descent Control, Electronic Stability Control, Corner Traction Control and a special Off-Road driving mode. Moreover, it gets the Autobrake function as standard which assists the driver in avoiding potential collisions by recognising pedestrians, cyclists and large animals, and braking automatically. Additionally, you get the Pilot Assist system, Run-off Road Mitigation, Oncoming Lane Mitigation and the optional Cross Traffic Alert.

As for the engine options, the range currently has a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder T5 AWD petrol powertrain and a similar capacity D4 AWD diesel engine. Mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants will be launched later in the life cycle. There is no word on an India launch, but if Volvo does bring it to India, it will be in the latter part of 2019 with prices close to that of the XC60.