Volvo returns to wagon market in U.S. with $36,215 V60

Volvo will officially return to the station wagon segment in the United States and Canada early next year when its $36,215 V60 goes on sale.

The wagon complement to the automaker’s S60 compact premium sedan lineup, the V60 is Volvo’s first traditional wagon in several years; the V70 was phased out after the 2010 model year in the U.S. in favor of the more crossover-like XC70 (which is, admittedly, a V70 with a suspension lift and a body kit).

Functionally identical to the S60, which receives an engine lineup update for 2015, the V60 will be offered in three flavors: Four-cylinder front-wheel-drive V60 T5 Drive-E, Five-cylinder all-wheel-drive T5 AWD and six-cylinder all-wheel-drive T6 AWD.

The big news is the arrival of Volvo’s new 2.0-liter, 240-horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder in the T5 Drive-E, which will also benefit from a new eight-speed automatic gearbox. Rated at 258 lb-ft. of torque, the new engine is expected to deliver class-leading fuel economy once official EPA figures are released.

The all-wheel-drive V60s carry over a 250 pony inline-five and 325-horse inline six, both of which are mated to six-speed automatics.

Pricing details
The $36,215 base price, including a mandatory destination charge, nets buyers a T5 Drive-E. An extra $1,800 brings with it leather trim, a digital gauge cluster, a proximity key and uprated 17-inch alloy wheels as part of the Premier package. Adding a further $750 upgrades buyers to the Premier Plus trim with a backup camera and a number of other goodies. Topping the range, at $40,450, is the Platinum with navigation and a premium stereo system.

All-wheel-drive on the T5 adds $1,500, but, again, it substitutes the new four-cylinder motor for a carried-over five-cylinder.

More sport-minded buyers can opt for the six-cylinder T6, which is offered exclusively with Volvo’s R-Design performance suspension and trim package. The V60 T6 R-Design lists from $45,215.

It’s not clear just how much the price premium for the V60 will be over its S60 sibling; pricing for the 2015 S60 has not yet been released. The V60 T5 AWD does undercut its only direct rival, the BMW 328i xDrive wagon, by nearly $5,000. Budget shoppers could put the V60 T5 Drive-E up against the $32,880 Acura TSX wagon, which is better-equipped but significantly less powerful.