GENEVA MOTOR SHOW: Volvo XC60 unveiled

The second generation of Volvo's mid-sized XC60 SUV will hunt down a squadron of German premium crossovers and Jaguar's booming F-Pace when it arrives here late this year.

As revealed at the Geneva motor show, the XC60 will be pushed into showrooms around the world by the middle of the year with expectations that it will follow up the sales boom driven by the XC90 SUV and S90 sedan. These two vehicles combined boosted Volvo sales by 125 per cent globally, last year.

The XC60 should benefit from the larger machines' stunning interiors and stable chassis, because the mid-sized SUV will be built off the same SPA large-car architecture, making it longer, lower and wider than before, but no heavier.

At 4690mm, it's 62mm longer than the outgoing car, while its wheelbase has been stretched by 91mm (to 2865mm), giving it significantly more rear legroom than the outgoing XC60, which was launched in 2008.

The new architecture provides more interior space in all seats, with the width up by 12mm to 1902mm, while it's 14mm lower at 1658mm, even though it has added some ground clearance, so there is a slight reduction in headroom.

It keeps the cab-back design profile, even though the engine variants are limited to an array of relatively short 2.0-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged and/or supercharged motors replacing the five-cylinder 2.4-litre engine.

The strongest of them, the T8 plug-in hybrid variant, will push the mid-sizer to 100km/h in 5.3 seconds and the range will be fleshed out with petrol and diesel engines and across-the-board eight-speed automatic transmissions.

The entry-level, petrol-powered T5 version will produce 187kW of power at 5500rpm and 350Nm of torque from 1500 to 4800rpm to reach 100km/h in 6.8 seconds, on its way to a 220km/h top speed.

The T6 mid-ranker takes the T5's turbocharged 2.0-litre hardware and adds a supercharger to help it deliver 235kW at 5700rpm and 400Nm from 2200 to 5400rpm. That slashes its 0-100km/h sprint to 5.9 seconds and adds 10km/h to its top speed, taking it to 230km/h.

The technological flagship T8 uses the T6's powertrain, but adds a 65kW/240Nm electric motor to deliver a system output of 300kW and 640Nm, making it the fastest XC60 of them all (topping out at 230km/h).

It uses a 10.4kWh lithium-ion battery to help it achieve 45km of zero-emission electric driving and an NEDC fuel consumption figure of just 2.1L/100km and CO2 emissions of 49g/km. The T5's NEDC figure is 7.3L/100km (167g/km), while the T6 sets its bar at 7.7L/100km and 176g/km.

The diesel duo offers a choice of 140kW of power at 4250rpm and 400Nm from 1740-2500rpm in the D4 or 173kW and 480Nm in the D5.

The entry-level diesel gets to 100km/h in a claimed 8.4 seconds and uses 5.2L/100km (136g/km), while the D5 is 1.2 seconds faster and has an NEDC figure of 5.5L/100km (and 144g/km).

None of them are especially light, starting with the T5 at 2081kg and ending at the 2349kg T8, though they try to mitigate that by bumping up the maximum braked towing capacity by 400kg to 2400kg.

Volvo sold 534,322 cars globally last year and the outgoing XC60 chipped in with an outsized contribution of 161,092 of those and 36 per cent of its Australian sales, yet Volvo expects the new version to achieve even more.

Built in its Torslanda, Sweden, plant, the XC60 will step up with safety and semi-autonomous driving features along with taking some of the luxury features from its big platform brothers.

There will be a blind-spot indication system, lane-departure mitigation to steer a drifting car back into its lane and "pilot assist", which will take over the brake, throttle and steering work at speeds up to 130km/h.

Its camera and radar detection systems also combine for a "large animal detection" system and there's also a system to prevent the SUV from running off the road.

"We have focused on building a car that can deliver pleasure to all of your senses – from a commanding view of the road ahead in a beautifully appointed and calm cabin, to a safe, inspired and confident ride," said Henrik Green, Senior Vice President Product & Quality at Volvo Car Group.

"We've paid particular attention to making life easier for our customers by providing them with the creature comforts and services that take the hassle out of everyday life."

Some of those comforts include a four-zone climate-control system, connectivity for Apple and Android devices and full leather on all seats.

"We have a strong heritage in designing stylish and dynamic SUVs that offer the latest in technology. The new XC60 will be no exception. It's the perfect car for an active lifestyle, and it represents the next step in our transformation plan," Volvo Car's President, Håkan Samuelsson, said.