Coty – Round 1

Intensive testing at the Lang Lang proving ground whittles the field down to a final five

- Ash Westerman, Noelle Faulkner, Andy Enright, Ash Westerman, Byron Mathioudakis, Toby Hagon & John Carey

Volvo S60/V60

SWEDES RETURN TO TRY FOR THE TRIPLE; ENCOUNTER BUMPS IN THE ROAD

ON PAPER, THE VOLVO S60 sedan and V60 wagon appeared to have a plausible shot of achieving what no other manufacturer has managed in COTY’s 57-year history: the unicorn hat-trick.

Last year, the Swedes joined an exclusive club by becoming only the fifth manufacturer to manage the COTY double, by virtue of the XC40 compact SUV’s win following on from the victorious mid-size XC60 SUV from 2018.

So, given the S60/V60 pair share platforms, drivetrains, safety systems and plenty of interior architecture with the anointed XC60, what happened?

The sedan/wagon duo started solidly, delivering a strong (but imperfect) safety score. This year, the lack of front cross-traffic alert and no emergency assist bumped them down slightly.

Value was a little harder to define. Do you compare the Volvos’ pricing and equipment to the three premium German brands, or does the likes of the excellent Peugeot 508, also here at COTY in both Fastback and Sportswagon body styles, provide a more valid reference point? If it’s the former, then the S60 Momentum entry point stacks up close in spec to Audi’s A4 45 TFSI Quattro (AWD; similar outputs from a turbo-petrol four) but the Swede comes in around $15K cheaper. At the top end of the range, we had the S60 T8 R-Design sedan on the test, its turbo and supercharged four combined with a plug-in hybrid system to deliver 311kW and 670Nm. This spec takes the price to $86,000, and not everyone was sold, particularly when its 0-100km/h time came in one second slower than its claim.