Bigger, safer, better. That’ll be the new V70
Volvo unveiled two key new models at Geneva – the V70 estate and its faux-by-four sibling, the XC70. Key cars because despite the growing popularity of its smaller saloons and bigger SUVs, the big V70 estate is Volvo’s heartland model. Get this one wrong and thousands of loyal buyers would turn on their wellies and buy elsewhere.
V70 gets its first six-cylinder engine
Not that the V70 has got it wrong. Penned by Brit designer Steve Mattin, the V70 treads a safe evolutionary line. It’s bigger, safer, more intelligently configured and with the flagship T6 swinging with a 285bhp turbocharged punch, it’s faster too.
Better off-road than before
Volvo’s tougher offspin, the XC70, also took a bow at Geneva. Volvo claims that particular attention was paid to enhancing and improving the XC70’s off-road characteristics, reinforcing its all-weather performance and modest mud-plugging abilities. It now benefits from a raised ride height – 74mm higher than the V70 – as well as an uprated all-wheel-drive system and plenty of robust plastic cladding.