THE COCKY TEUTONS still rule the compact executive henhouse, a henhouse where the Swedish rooster has tried to claw its way in without much success over the years. Enter the stylish new Volvo S60, tasked with the unenviable job of stealing market share from the BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and the Audi A4. Volvo launched the car with a youth oriented ‘Naughty’ marketing campaign. Possibly they want us to think of the S60 as the automotive equivalent of a condom: it’s safe, but it’s also something to have fun with. So can a front-wheel drive Volvo really hold its own against rear-wheel drive and quattro sedans with an established dynamic heritage. More importantly, does it need to?

Exterior
Steve Mattin’s exterior design is a good one. Gone is the boxy design language of its predecessors, replaced by a slippery wedge full of curves and creases that manage to give the car a low-slung dynamic stance. Daytime LED running lights flank the grille while the big headlamps stare right back at you like a Bambi caught in a spotlight. It’s a good-looking rear too, with the bootlid splitting the LED tail lamps. The S60 is at its most handsome viewed in profile, reminding one more of a coupe than a four-door sedan. Some members of our testing team felt the design would polarise opinion and that it would take some getting used to. However, I think Volvo has created one of the most attractive sedans money can buy.

Interior

In Volvo’s case the exterior design has always lagged the interior, so it was to be expected that changes to the cabin would be more evolutionary than the radical redesign on the outside. If you’ve driven a modern Volvo recently, it will all feel familiar, from the floating centre stack slightly angled towards the driver to the uncluttered design and sensible ergonomics. Uncomplicated, easy to master and with a no-mess, no-fuss approach to design, Volvo interiors are a personal favourite. The seats, comfortable and supportive, rate a special mention. You won’t mind doing a cross-country road trip in them. Less successful was the Beechwood brown colour of our leather seats, which did not go down well with the testing team. Fortunately one would be able to spec an S60 with a more practical off-black hue. Beauty never comes cheaply though, and that beautiful swooping exterior exacts a price in terms of compromised room in the back passenger bench and the absence of a spare wheel. If the worst happens, it’s just you and a tyre sealant kit.

Performance