Volvo S60 triumphs as Executive Car of the Year in Scottish Car of the Year Awards​

The Volvo S60 has been crowned best executive car in the 2019 Scottish Car of the Year Awards, taking the top spot just six months after its UK market launch. Its success, announced at a gala presentation in Edinburgh on Friday evening, sustains Volvo's impressive performance in the awards, with honours received every year since 2015.

Winning qualities

The Scottish Car of the Year Awards are determined by the Association of Scottish Motoring Writers. John Murdoch, President of the Association, summed up the opinions of his colleagues in bestowing the award on the S60: "The S60 embodies all that an executive car should. Discreetly classy, sleek and with a sporting style, it delivers the ideal combination of comfort, driving engagement and equipment, blended with Volvo's superb safety kit to make it the envy of any corporate car park."

Matt Galvin, Volvo Car UK's Sales Director, said: "We're delighted that the Association has given us this award because it reflects how we are building the strength of our complete model range, not just our SUVs and estate cars. With the new S60, we have seized the initiative in the premium mid-size saloon market to challenge the established players and show customers how we are delivering an alternative that is fully aligned with their priorities."

The perfect corporate choice

The S60 has demonstrated that it has what it takes to succeed in the fiercely competitive corporate car market, a premium mid-size saloon that mixes distinctive contemporary design with hand-crafted quality and the intelligent application of advanced powertrain, connectivity and safety technologies. Introduced in the UK in spring 2019, it is the first modern Volvo not to feature a diesel engine, offering instead a T5 petrol unit with front-wheel drive or a T8 Twin Engine petrol-electric plug-in hybrid with all-wheel drive, both matched to an eight-speed automatic transmission.

The latter system is both highly efficient and potent. Despite developing an impressive 390hp (405hp in the high-performance Polestar Engineered variant) and being capable of 0-62mph in only 4.6 seconds, the S60 T8 Twin Engine can travel up to 36 miles on electric power alone (driving conditions and battery charge permitting) and has official fuel economy figures of up to 176.5mpg and CO2 emissions from just 39g/km. This supports low benefit-in-kind rates for company car drivers, with tax bills of only £265 a month for a higher-rate taxpayer. T5 R-Design Plus versions are available for even less: a 20% taxpayer will pay just £214 a month for one.

Three distinctive equipment grades

Built exclusively at Volvo's plant in Charleston, South Carolina, the third-generation S60 is available in the UK in three grades with distinctly different characters.

R-Design Plus focuses on a dynamic edge, with sharper styling details for the exterior and interior and, for the T5 petrol version, lower, stiffer suspension. Other features include 18-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels, a power-adjustable driver's seat, 10-speaker sound system with two USB ports, heated front seats, gearshift paddles, 12.3-inch digital driver's display and dual-zone climate control with Volvo's CleanZone air-quality system.

The Inscription Plus version majors on a luxury ambience with ventilated front seats, Nappa soft leather upholstery, hand-finished Driftwood interior inlays and powered front passenger seat adjustment.

The range-topping S60 T8 Polestar Engineered gets a raft of high-performance upgrades to its suspension, brakes, wheels, engine and transmission, along with exclusive styling features.

Exceptional safety provisions

Safety is synonymous with Volvo and the S60 demonstrates the advanced technologies the company is deploying in its mission to eliminate the risk of serious injuries and fatalities in its new cars. These include, as standard, City Safety, which can detect vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists and large animals in the car's path by day or night, automatically alerting the driver and providing autonomous braking if necessary to avoid or reduce the severity of an impact. Further protection is provided in the form of Oncoming Lane Mitigation, a segment-first system to help avoid accidents with oncoming vehicles.

The S60 is also available with Pilot Assist, which provides levels of acceleration and braking control and steering assistance to help keep the car in its lane, at a set speed and at a safe distance from any vehicle ahead, making driving safer and less tiring for those who have to cover long distances.

On-the-road prices for the Volvo S60 start at £38,285 for the T5 R-Design Plus model. PCP and PCH finance agreements are available from just £399 per month (terms and conditions apply).