Audi must’ve sent their photocopier to Sweden.
Do you remember not that long ago when everyone used to take potshots at Audi for their cookie-cutter approach to design, which resulted in the Audi A4 looking like a shrunken A6, and the A6 looking like a baby A8? The only wilfully-different cars in the lineup were the R8 hypercar, A1 hatch, and TT sports car. Everything else had a mould that could be scaled up or down, and that was that.
Well, Audi’s changed their ways, and now their cars feature a bit more differentiation between them so that each model line has a more recognisable design. Clearly their photocopier had far less work to do, so they must’ve sent it to Volvo to continue its life in the design department because this leaked image (courtesy of Swedish publication Teknikens Värld) of the S60 brings back more than a whiff of the S90 saloon.
When Volvo debuted their new design direction with the XC90, we were happy to see that design get tweaked here and there before it was applied to the S90 and V90 (with the latter getting taillights that stretched into the tailgate, resulting in a totally different treatment). The same was said of the XC60, which could have very easily followed the mould of the bigger XC90 but instead went its own way (a bit). But the back end of this S60 is a bit too S90, so much so that the taillights look a bit overbearing.
It’s worth noting though that at least the S60 seemingly gains a more unique roofline, far less dramatic than that on the S90. On the smaller 60, it appears to taper to the end in a far less graceful fashion (undoubtedly to ensure that rear passengers get enough headroom), before that line gets a very pronounced tick upwards with what appears to be the largest integrated ducktail spoiler we’ve seen in a while.
If you’re disappointed you can’t see the face, fret not, as we’ve included a photo of the V60’s front end for you to look at. And if the saloon isn’t about 95% similar, I’ll eat my shoe.
Expect to find the drivetrains from the V60 under the skin too. That’ll come in D3 and D4 diesels (110kW/320Nm and 140kW/400Nm respectively) as well as a T6 petrol with 228kW/400Nm, and two plug-in hybrids in T6 TwinEngine (251kW/590Nm) and T8 TwinEngine (288kW/640Nm) guises.
The S60 isn’t expected until later this year, presumably after the arrival of the V60 CrossCountry. When it arrives on our shores, the S60 will definitely bring positive change to Volvo’s sales numbers no doubt, and we can’t wait to get behind the wheel when it does.
For more information on Volvo, check out our Showroom.
