From £47,050

Seven-year-old, second-generation, popular mid-sized family SUV gets a mild facelift and an indefinite stay of execution

Somewhere in a parallel universe without carbon emissions and electric cars, an all-new Volvo XC60 has just been launched to the press. In that world, just as in ours, it has lately become the most important car that the company makes; the most popular model that it has ever sold, no less. It’d be crazy not to invest large in a car like that.

And yet here we are. In our world, what we’re getting amounts to little more than a lightly facelifted version of the second-generation XC60, itself launched in 2017, in a similar vein to what we’ve seen with the bigger-brother XC90

An all-electric Volvo EX60 will be along in 2026; and at that point, this car will soldier on in showrooms much as the XC90 is expected to now, a little like some septuagenarian schoolmaster just months from retirement whose five grandchildren suddenly move back in at home under tragic circumstances, and all need new shoes and hot dinners.

Or that, at least, is how it looks. Truth is, plenty of other manufacturers are extending the life of existing models in a similar way, as all the R&D cash goes into electric models that may or may not ever deliver a return. Many of those manufacturers just do a better job of making mutton look - and, figurately at least, taste - like lamb.

Range at a glance

VERSION POWER
B5 AWD MILD HYBRID 247bhp
T6 AWD PLUG-IN HYBRID 345bhp
T8 AWD PLUG-IN HYBRID 449bhp

Advertisement

DESIGN & STYLING

Volvo XC60 review 2025 002

Volvo’s too honest and straightforward a company to really seek to deceive anyone by putting very many fresh clothes on old bones (though it’s also a company whose corporate strategy has flop-flopped more than a travelling swimming team these last few years, making normal product investment decisions meaningfully impossible). That’s why this ‘new’ car has so little to make it seem, well, new. There’s a new front bumper and radiator grille; new headlights and dark smoked tail lamps; some new alloy wheel designs and paint choices; and, externally at least, that’s it.

There’s nothing new about this car’s engine lineup, either; just as there wasn’t with the XC90. The 247bhp B5 AWD mild-hybrid petrol keeps on trucking, alongside both 347bhp T6 and 449bhp T8 plug-in hybrid petrols. Other markets can have a 296bhp B6 AWD petrol, which Europeans are denied for emissions reasons. But Volvo only had T8 PHEV demonstrators to test on the European press launch, in range-topping Ultra trim (which adds adaptively damped air suspension rather than the car’s standard passive springs).

The car continues to use the same 'SPA' model platform seen on its bigger sibling, the Volvo XC90, and so in many ways it is exactly what it looks like: a boil-washed XC90.

As standard the XC60 gets all-wheel drive, a double-wishbone front suspension with a rear multi-link arrangement. Like the XC90, it gets a transverse composite leaf spring in the rear axle, allowing a light, compact design with, in theory, a smoother ride and improved noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) compared with what you’d get with a regular coil spring set up. Height-adjustable air suspension (which allows an additional 60mm of ground clearance) is available on range-topping models, or as an option on mid-spec ones.

INTERIOR

Volvo XC60 review 2025 005

On the inside, Volvo’s turning to digital technology to give this car its biggest fresh selling point. Specifically, that would be the 11.2in, portrait-oriented, Android-powered touchscreen infotainment system, which looks a little like it’s been forcibly inserted into a space slightly too small for it in the middle of the fascia - but, nonetheless, has a sharper display, faster responses and better connected functionality than what it replaces.

Volvo certainly seems to be refining this system little by little, having made more ADAS functions accessible at a top level within its menus. Honestly, aspects of its usability would still regularly and seriously irk me; and I’d find it a lot less distracting from the road with some kind of separate cursor controller. But then I’m not an Android-based smartphone user, and so don’t tap into the way it can sync with your Google account; so I probably don’t appreciate it at its best.

New touchscreen aside, the only interior feature meaningfully different on this 2026MY XC60 is the new two-and-a-half berth cupholder. That aside, it’s only speaker grilles, dashboard trim and seat upholstery.

It’s a shame that touchscreen isn’t some nonpareil of easy use, though; because that’s very much what the rest of this car is all about. The multi-adjustable front seats, with their quilted Nordico not-quite-leather upholstery, allow a great, well-supported driving position. There's still plenty of room in the back for adults and growing teenagers, too, while the boot offers great convenience features and suffers little on compromise to space for the presence of the electric rear axle.

 

The cabin ambience, which manages to seem vaguely Scandinavian without lapsing into the hackneyed appearance of an IKEA kitchen, is still convincingly appealing, as is the high-quality fit-and-finish of predominantly premium materials. It doesn't feel as fresh or innovative as more modern rivals with its material use now, but it's still a nice place to be.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

Volvo XC60 review 2025 015

Whichever of the two plug-in variants you go for, the XC60's PHEV hybrid system should make for responsive, relaxing progress through the suburbs.

Moreover, with Volvo having made additional cabin isolation measures one of the more meaningful material developments that this updated car brings, the four-cylinder combustion engine now runs a little bit more quietly and smoothly when it’s called to, puncturing the aura of calm that bit less noticeably than equivalent engines of previous PHEVs used to.

In terms of outright performance, the T8 version feels a deal quicker than the XC60 probably needs to. The B5 is slower and, as aquaintance with the prefacelift version suggested, like it's having to work harder much of the time; although we'll have to wait to drive the new updated version to confirm this is still true. Quieter or otherwise, however, the B5's economy (at barely 30mpg) means frequent trips to the petrol station are necessary. 

Back in the PHEVs, an 18.8kWh drive battery (no bigger here than on prefacelift cars) provides an electric range of between 41- and 50 lab-test miles; which translates into real-world range of between 35- and 40, depending on particular type of usage.

 

RIDE & HANDLING

Volvo XC60 review 2025 014

On air suspension, the XC60’s ride seemed gentle, quiet and absorbent on Swedish roads, even on 21in wheels.

Handling agility and body control are about where you’d expect them to be on a bigger-than-average Volvo - not brilliant, respectable enough, though neither makes driving the car a chore.

If anything, thanks to those new refinement measures and its few slightly richer trim materials, this XC60 feels like a car that knows what it’s for more than its predecessor did; which is no bad thing.

It remains to be seen if passively sprung XC60s will be quite as comfortable as refined as their air sprung counterparts; but, if they are at least close, this Volvo should continue to prove a comfortable to drive at all speeds, and particularly commendable as a motorway cruiser, even in terrible weather conditions.

You could perhaps bemoan the fact that the car's 'Power' driving mode doesn’t do a better job of producing much of a sporting driving experience (body control ranges from decent downwards) – admitting the familiar caveat that, in all likelihood, a Volvo owner won’t care.

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

Volvo XC60 review 2025 001

The XC60 of 2025 is a very different beast to the one that launched in 2017. The range starts with Core trim, and the B5 is the only model offered with this. Mid-range Plus and Plus Pro tiers are offered on the B5 and the T6; while the Ultra range-topper is available only as a T8 PHEV.

Likewise, on an Ultra, you can choose either bright chrome or dark polished black body trim; whereas on the lesser ones, you get either one or the other.

The B5 Core costs just under £50,000, with prices rising incrementally from there; while the T8 Ultra almost touches £70,000. Big money; but, as the mystery shoppers at our sister brand What Car?'s Target Price have shown, big discounts can be offered, too.

VERDICT

volvo xc60

In many areas, the Volvo XC60 has aged very gracefully, and it is still quite competitive in several key areas.

It looks great on the outside, and its interior can just about keep up in some areas with more modern rivals, while also maintaining impressive levels of comfort and practicality. 

Ride improvements made throughout its life are apparent, and so you could say that XC60 has found its place as a comfortable car that doesn't over-excite its driver, rather cosseting them.

Yet the engine range is beginning to let this car down; and may yet do so rather more seriously.

The clock is now ticking for the XC60. This was Europe’s best-selling PHEV in 2024, and right now it continues to have plenty of laid back, rational appeal.

But 'more of the same' will only take this car so far. Unless Volvo is keeping back a meaningful update for its hybrid system, it’ll likely lose a lot of its on-paper allure when the time for mandatory homologation under stricter ‘Euro 6e-bis’ comes.

While its rivals get younger and younger, then, and better-prepared for the next era of emissions compliance, Volvo’s popularity champion could start to look very old very quickly. It may always be a sound, mature choice; but perhaps not such a smart one as once it was.

Matt Saunders

Matt Saunders Autocar
Title: Road test editor

As Autocar’s chief car tester and reviewer, it’s Matt’s job to ensure the quality, objectivity, relevance and rigour of the entirety of Autocar’s reviews output, as well contributing a great many detailed road tests, group tests and drive reviews himself.

Matt has been an Autocar staffer since the autumn of 2003, and has been lucky enough to work alongside some of the magazine’s best-known writers and contributors over that time. He served as staff writer, features editor, assistant editor and digital editor, before joining the road test desk in 2011.

Since then he’s driven, measured, lap-timed, figured, and reported on cars as varied as the Bugatti Veyron, Rolls-Royce PhantomTesla RoadsterAriel Hipercar, Tata Nano, McLaren SennaRenault Twizy and Toyota Mirai. Among his wider personal highlights of the job have been covering Sebastien Loeb’s record-breaking run at Pikes Peak in 2013; doing 190mph on derestricted German autobahn in a Brabus Rocket; and driving McLaren’s legendary ‘XP5’ F1 prototype. His own car is a trusty Mazda CX-5.