Volvo explains why the S60 sedan is no longer coming to South Africa

By: Ryan Bubear

The head of Volvo Car South Africa has explained why the S60 sedan is no longer coming to local shores.

Greg Maruszewski, managing director of Volvo Car South Africa, confirmed to CARmag.co.za neither the S60 sedan nor the V60 estate were on the cards for a local introduction.

“There are currently no plans to bring the S60/V60 range into South Africa. While this topic was discussed internally last year [in 2019], the consistent decline in the ‘D’ premium sedan segment over the past few years, by 20 to 25 percent per annum, meant the potential volume is constantly decreasing,” he said.

“The recent currency weakness does not help the cause. We have therefore taken the decision not to bring it in and for the time being focus on our range of XC cars, where the segments are either growing or showing smaller declines,” Maruszewski told us.

The Swedish firm took the wraps off the third-generation S60 saloon back in mid-2018 (four months after revealing the V60), with the new model conceived to take on the likes of the BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Audi A4. At the time, Volvo Car SA said it hoped to launch the new mid-size sedan at some point in 2019 (likely in T4, T5 and T6 forms) but added “final dates and specification are not yet available”.

At launch in overseas markets, the S60 range also included two turbocharged and supercharged plug-in hybrid 2,0-litre petrol powertrains: the T6 Twin Engine AWD plug-in hybrid generating a combined 254 kW and the T8 Twin Engine AWD plug-in hybrid delivering 298 kW. The S60 T8 Polestar Engineered, meanwhile, was also detailed, boasting a peak output of 305 kW.

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