Volvo XC60 bags World Car of the Year 2018 title

The new Volvo XC60 midsize SUV has been named World Car of the Year 2018 at the New York Auto Show, adding another accolade to Volvo’s growing list of awards this year.

The Swedish model beat 33 other vehicles to the top spot, finishing ahead of the finalists, the Mazda CX-5 and the Range Rover Velar, to complete a podium of SUVs.

Anders Gustafsson, senior vice-president of Americas, Volvo Cars, receives the award at the New York Auto Show. 

The XC60 also scooped the prestigious North American Utility of the Year Award earlier this year, while the XC40 small SUV was named European Car of the Year at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this month, illustrating growing success for the brand, which has turned around its fortunes since being acquired by Chinese automotive giant Geely in 2010.

“I am pleased to see our company’s product investments paying off,” said Håkan Samuelsson, president and CEO of Volvo Cars. “We are up against some tough competition, but this award for the XC60 show that Volvo has the right combination of design, connectivity and safety that appeals to customers across the world.”

In the new XC60, Euro NCAP’s best overall performer in 2017, Volvo’s City Safety Autonomous Emergency Braking system has been enhanced with steering support for when automatic braking alone may not help avoid a potential collision. In addition Oncoming Lane Mitigation with Steer Assist which helps mitigate head-on collisions and Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) with Steer Assist functionality has been added to reduce the risk of lane-changing collisions.

The XC60 currently on sale in India.  

While the XC60 in international markets is sold with a range of petrol and diesel engines, including a petrol-electric hybrid powertrain, the SUV is sold in India at Rs 55.90 lakh (ex-showroom, India) in a single Inscription trim. It is powered by a four-cylinder, 2.0-litre diesel engine that develops 235hp and 480Nm of peak torque, and is mated to an eight-speed automatic that powers all four wheels.

These two accolades come hot on the heels of Mr Samuelsson’s World Car Person of the Year recognition, awarded by the same panel of international media in Geneva earlier this month. Mr Samuelsson was given this inaugural award in recognition of his work in driving the success of Volvo Cars in recent years.

Other category winners
Also awarded in New York was the Nissan Leaf, which was announced as the World Green Car, while the Audi A8 took top spot in the World Luxury Car category. Overall runner-up, the Range Rover Velar, won the World Car Design award, the BMW M5 was named World Performance Car and the Volkswagen Polo topped the Urban Car class.

“The New York International Auto Show is proud of the tradition it has built with the World Car Awards to recognise the 'best of the best' in the auto industry," said John LaSorsa, chairman of the New York motor show. "Over the past 12 years, this awards programme  [WCOTY] has grown to become one of the most coveted honours for the world's auto makers."

Last year’s overall winner was the Jaguar F-Pace, while the Mazda MX-5 won the year before that.