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All-new Volvo XC60 wins prestigious 2018 North American Utility of the Year award


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Detroit Jan 15, 2018; The all-new Volvo XC60 premium mid-size SUV is the 2018 North American Utility of the Year and Volvo Cars’ second winner of the coveted award, following the XC90 win in 2016.

“The US market is vital to our ongoing growth,” said Håkan Samuelsson, president and CEO of Volvo Cars. “We are proud to receive this prestigious award and we are committed to building on the success of our XC60 and XC90 in the US, as demonstrated by the billion-dollar investments in our new manufacturing plant in South Carolina.”

Success at the 2018 North American Car, Utility and Truck of the Year (NACTOY) awards continues a winning run for the XC60, which was earlier this month crowned the 2017 Euro NCAP awards’ best overall safety performer of 2017, outscoring a comprehensive field of 70 cars representing 30 carmakers across all classes.

“We have a strong position in this important segment, with sales in excess of one million units of the XC60’s predecessor,” said Samuelsson. “This latest recognition for the new XC60 highlights our company’s determination to continue our success in premium SUVs.”

The new XC60 is attracting acclaim by sticking true to its Volvo heritage, boasting technology that makes it one of the safest cars on the market. Steer Assist has been added to the groundbreaking City Safety system. The new safety system called Oncoming Lane Mitigation helps alleviate head-on collisions and the Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) reduces the risk of lane-changing collisions.

XC60 drivers can also option Pilot Assist, Volvo Cars’ advanced driver assistance system, which supports the driver with steering, acceleration and braking on well-marked roads up to 130km/h.

“The Volvo XC60 raises the bar for safety and driver assistance systems in compact utility vehicles, and does it in a package that exudes Scandinavian design,” said Mark Phelan, president of the NACTOY organisation.

The new XC60 offers Volvo Cars’ award-winning T8 Twin Engine petrol plug-in hybrid at the top of the powertrain range, delivering 407hp and acceleration from 0-100km in just 5.3 seconds.

Other powertrain options include the diesel D4 engine at 190hp and the D5 with PowerPulse technology delivering 235hp. The petrol-powered T5 delivers 254hp and the T6 – which has both turbo and superchargers – delivers 320hp and 400Nm of torque.

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About Volvo Car Group

Volvo has been in operation since 1927. Today, Volvo Cars is one of the most well-known and respected car brands in the world with sales of 534,332 cars in 2016 in about 100 countries. Volvo Cars has been under the ownership of the Zhejiang Geely Holding (Geely Holding) of China since 2010. It formed part of the Swedish Volvo Group until 1999, when the company was bought by Ford Motor Company of the US. In 2010, Volvo Cars was acquired by Geely Holding.

As of December 2016, Volvo Cars had over 31,000 employees worldwide. Volvo Cars head office, product development, marketing and administration functions are mainly located in Gothenburg, Sweden. Volvo Cars head office for China is located in Shanghai. The company’s main car production plants are located in Gothenburg (Sweden), Ghent (Belgium), Chengdu and Daqing (China), while engines are manufactured in Skövde (Sweden) and Zhangjiakou (China) and body components in Olofström (Sweden)