Here’s the first official video of the sleek 2011 Volvo S60 about to debut in a couple of months! As usual when there’s new design attributes people are divided, but I really like those taillights. There’s no interior shots yet, but I’ll post them as soon as they’re available.

Hey, look at that; Volvo XC60 (my current personal favorite among the Volvo models) beat 9 competing crossovers, SUVs and trucks and was named 2010 International Truck of the Year by the ICOTY jury (a panel consisting of 19 car magazines and websites) and the award was handed over at the 2009 LA Auto Show.

The fact that the XC60 is the first car to offer City Safety (where the car brakes automatically if the driver reacts too slow) as standard equipment ought to have helped.

Congrats, Volvo!

(via autoblog)

Volvo unveiled the first official pictures of the sporty 2010 S60 today, but you’ll have to wait until the Geneva Motor Show in March next year to see it live though. Production is scheduled to start in early summer 2010.

Yeah, it looks like a regular Volvo C30 allright, but this is model is a BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle) currently evaluated by Volvo. This Lithium-Ion-battery powered and – if you use green electricity – close-to-zero-emissions car ought to look seriously interesting for city drivers and commuters, sporting a range of 150 kilometers, a top speed of 130 km/h and you’re able to recharge the battery via a regular power socket and a full charge takes about 8 hours.

“The consumer must feel that this type of car is attractive both to drive and own. In order to ensure this, we feel that electric cars will have to be as comfortable and safe and offer similar levels of performance as cars with other power sources.” says Paul Gustavsson, Director of Electrification Strategy at Volvo Cars.

If you’re a fan of Volvo’s S60 Concept and near Cologne, Germany you could (and should) head over to the game fair GamesCom and check out the S60 Concept they have on display there. The car will be in Atari/Namco Bandai’s exhibition stand from August 19 to 23. Why the game fair? Well, you can drive the S60 concept in “Volvo The Game” (free download).

Volvo will present the XC60 R-Design option pack at the Frankfurt Motor Show 2009. On the outside you’ll find five-spoke 18″ (and even 20″ if you want to) Cratus aluminum wheels (unique for R-Design models), door mirror housings, trim mouldings, decor trim in matte metal finish, skid plates, metal finish grille with R-Design emblem and twin chrome tailpipes. The lower section of the car is color matched to the rest of the body instead of matte black making the car appear as lower than the standard model although it’s not. The chassis is stiffer, sporting stronger damping and the car now features more direct steering.

On the inside you’ll find metal finish; aluminum inserts on the centre stack, door mouldings and the steering wheel (with perforated leather and an engraved R-Design emblem). The pedals are made of brushed aluminum and rubber inserts,

Not impressed by the stock Volvo XC60 looks? Well, here’s German tuning company Heico Sportiv’s take on it, offering increased performance as well as a more athletic look. Interior-wise you get aluminum door pins, pedals and foot rests, a custom leather gear shift lever and nine different colors and color schemes for the interior leather and materials (door panel inlays, seat covers etc).

On the outside you get tuned suspension to improve handling (the Heico Sportiv lowers the XC60 by 30mm), a front spoiler and rear skirt, spacers giving you 30mm tracking increase, 19 to 20 inch alloy wheels, The 2.4D and D5 both report 210 hp and the turbocharged T6 goes from 285 hp to 315.

Check out the gallery:

Link: Heico Sportiv XC60 (Heicosportiv.de)

Not brand new but still worth a mention; Bo Zolland of Swedish 3D design firm Vizualtech (the same guy and firm behind the impressive renderings of Mattias Vöcks’ 2009 VOX Volvo P1800) was assigned by Bilsport Magazine (Sweden) to create a Diesel or green race-inspired Volvo C30 with low emissions and high output able to compete in the DTM touring car series or Lemans type racing and this is the result. Sure would be interesting to see how a C30 would handle with the added front/rear spoilers, side sills and a rear diffuser in real life.

Continue reading for more Volvo C30 2009 ‘Racer’ images:

British automotive magazine / car buyer’s guide What Car? has awarded Volvo S40 1.6D DRIVe Green Car of the Year 2009 at the What Car? Green Car Awards, beating both BMW 118d and Renault Megane in the Small Family category as well as winners in other green categories such as Audi A8 (luxury car winner) and MINI Cooper S (sports car winner).

The main reason the new S40 DRIVe won is because of the new start/stop function (also available in the new C30 and V50 DRIVe) which reduces the CO2 emissions to 104 g/km; whenever the driver puts the gear lever into neutral and releases the clutch while standing still the engine switches off, patiently waiting to start up again whenever he/she presses the clutch again. These quick and smooth restarts (which doesn’t affect the audio system) are made possible by an additional, smaller battery supporting the larger battery with extra juice.

What Car?’s editor, Steve Fowler, said: “The S40 is a great example of a car maker cleverly refining existing technologies to make a seriously green car. It’s not just about a low CO2 figure, though: the S40 is great to drive, safe, has enough space for the family and, crucially, is cheap to run, too.”

Among the other winners we find:

• Lexus RX450h – Best green SUV
• Toyota Avensis 2.0 D-4D – Best green family car
• Mini Cooper S – Greenest sports car (2nd year in a row)
• BMW 318d – Best green executive car
• Fiat 500 Stop&Start – Best green supermini
• Audi A8 2.8 V6 – Greenest luxury car
• Vauxhall Ampera won the Technical Award, an electric car going on sale in 2012)
• Tesla won the Editor’s Award for the battery-powered Roadster

Link: WhatCar.com

A new and restyled Volco C70 has been spotted in Barcelona during the shooting of a commercial, looks like it has inherited the front from the C60 concept. The current model can be seen right here.

No word on when it’ll be available for the masses, but if you’re craving more pictures of it there’s a bunch of them available at Swedespeed.

(via bilfeber)