Volvo XC60: an offroader for the city

Volvo appears to recognise that far too many SUVs spend most of their working lives in the city and suburbs. Why else would the company equip its latest model, the XC60, with a new safety feature specifically tailored for the urban jungle?

Named City Safe, the feature is programmed to react to common urban crash parameters (like taxi cuts in front of you, etc.) and applies the brakes independently of the driver's input.

Volvo cites crash data that shows 75 per cent of all accidents occur at lower speeds -- typically in heavy traffic, rather than falling off the edge of a Scandinavian glacier. Currently, the Swedish manufacturer is negotiating with American motor insurers for reduced premiums to be offered to owners of the XC60, by reason of the car's native ability (City Safe) to avoid low-speed, but still costly, crashes.

The new SUV was launched recently in Spain and is appearing at the Paris motor show this week. As per our report from March (more here), the Australian specification is yet to be decided, but foreign markets -- the US for one -- are known to be getting the XC60 powered by the turbocharged 3.2-litre straight six, driving through a six-speed sequential-shift automatic transmission and a Haldex four-wheel drive system.

And as we said back in March, a turbodiesel five-cylinder is a pretty strong chance for the local market too.

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