3 days Ago By Peter Bleakney
Article content As a young fellow, long before the days of minivans and SUVs, our family had a string of Volvo wagons inhabiting our Nova Scotia driveway. If you needed practical family transport, the wagon was the thing, and for my Dad, being a biology professor and boots-on-the-ground naturalist, the boxy tanks from Sweden were just the ticket. Plus, at the time, these Volvos were made in Halifax, which was pretty cool.
Fast forward a few decades and the station wagon (at least here in SUV-obsessed North America) has become a premium Euro-niche vehicle catering to a small demographic of monied folk who dig the idea of a luxury long-roof. Volvo is still in the game, although even its wagon lineup is atrophying. When this second-generation V60 launched in 2019 it was offered as either a Momentum, R-Design, Inscription, Cross Country, or Polestar.
Now we just have the lifted V60 Cross Country and the blazingly quick and complex V60 T8 Polestar Engineered PHEV packing 415 horsepower and 494 pound-feet of torque. But don’t look for the latter on the Canadian Volvo website – our small 2025 allotment is already sold out. Go Canada! One thing you can say about Volvo V60: it remains one of the best-looking cars on the road.
How did the looks-like-the-crate-it-came-in Volvo wagon evolve into such a finely proportioned Nordic siren? Okay, maybe my long-standing long-roof affiliation has me a tad biased, but this tester dipped in Ultra Vapor Grey (new for 2025) and rolling on 20-inch stock is a thing of unrivalled beauty to these eyes. Credit designers T. Jordan Mayer and Maxime Prevoteaux for fashioning the V60’s rakish lines.
Volvo V60 Cross Country’s interior features And the V60’s loveliness goes deeper than its metal skin. Inside, the Cross Country’s understated Scandinavian chic aesthetic separates this Swede from all comers, reinforcing the notion that Chinese-owner Geely is correct with its hands-off approach to Volvo — give the Swedes the kronor and let them do what they do best. And that includes making superbly comfortable and supportive seats, here fitted with a massage function ($1,300) that hints of a Nordic gnome (maybe two) inside the chair trying to pummel their way to freedom.
This is a good thing. With a starting price of $66,800, the 2025 Volvo V60 CC is not wanting for much. Nappa leather is standard, as are ventilated front seats, panoramic sunroof, heated steering wheel and heated rear seats.
Tech goodies include a head-up display, Harman Kardon premium audio, park assist (front, rear and side), 360-degree camera, and a laundry list of safety and driver aids commensurate with the Volvo badge. Missing are a phone charging pad and much in the way of meaningful cabin storage. There’s a 12.
3-inch digital driver display and Volvo’s 9-inch portrait-oriented Google-based touchscreen. Apple CarPlay is supported but not wireless, and there are no USB-A ports, just USB-C. Of course, a Volvo wouldn’t be a Volvo if it didn’t have some quirks, and its interface is somewhat contrary to the marque’s legendary safety credo, sacrificing user friendliness on the altar of cramming everything into a digital screen — this 9-incher being just too small.
Yes, the cabin looks like a spare piece of chic Nordic furniture but poking away at the tiny HVAC icons while on the move or trying to navigate the inscrutable radio/audio functions is enough to make you want to learn some Swedish cuss words. If you’re using Apple CarPlay, the screen layout is much better. Strangely, there’s no AM receiver in this system, which isn’t good for us in the GTA who rely on 680 AM traffic reports.
Volvo has finally wised-up, debuting an all-new 11.3-inch interface in the upcoming 2026 XC90 SUV . Took them long enough.
But it’s hard to hold a grudge in here. The superb seats whisper “There, there”, and how cool is that crystal gear selector, made by famed Swedish crystaliers Orrefors? This tester’s Blonde hide pairs beautifully with the grey open-pored wood trim, and the upgraded 15-speaker Bowers and Wilkins audio at $3,750 is worth every penny to these practiced ears. The Studio setting is the most true, but there’s also Stage that adds some natural ambience with adjustable parameters for both intensity and envelopment.
The Room setting replicates either the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra Hall or Nefertiti Jazz Club in Stockholm. Sure, a bit gimmicky but fun. And it was nice of Volvo to provide a large physical volume knob below the screen.
What powers the 2025 Volvo V60 Cross Country? Motivation comes from the B5 2.0L turbocharged four-cylinder getting assistance from a 48-volt mild hybrid system. It musters a combined 247 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque at 1,800-4,800 rpm.
Power is adequate but not particularly inspired, as is the engine’s decidedly un-premium gruff sound when pressed. The mild hybrid system does add a bit of shove off the line, and it smooths out shifts with some torque fill. Power runs through an eight-speed auto (no paddle shifters in the CC) to all four corners.
This mild hybrid wagon will not drive on electric power alone, but its off-road cred includes a raised ride height giving 8.1-inches of ground clearance, hill descent control and an off-road mode. The Volvo V60 CC is a stable and secure handler with a sense of unassailable solidity – very Volvo.
It doesn’t flow with the dynamic cohesiveness of a BMW 3 Series , but it does settle into a nice cruise. Nits to pick are the numb steering and slightly flinty ride quality that has been a bugaboo of Volvo’s SPA chassis since day one. The Cross Country’s raised suspension provides more cushioning, but I might forgo these stylin’ $1,475 20-inch wheels shod in 245/40H20 rubber (19s are standard) as they do nothing for the ride quality.
Oh gosh, but they look so good. Again, the upcoming 2026 Volvo XC90 addresses the SPA platform ride issue with new frequency-selective damping that mechanically adapts to road conditions. Took them long enough.
There’s no point in having a Volvo station wagon for a week if you don’t do at least one “wagony” thing. Hence, it was off to the Restore to find a solid wood door for my back yard garden shed. Dropping the 60/40 split rear bench with ski pass-through is easy, and the flat floor it creates makes loading the heavy door a breeze.
As does the Volvo’s standard hands-free lift-gate that opens with a sweep of the foot. You know who else really likes station wagons? Dogs. Or at least older, lazier ones who find jumping into high-riding SUVs a chore — sometimes an impossibility.
Our nine-year-old Golden Retriever is very happy her “own” car is a 2005 Volvo V70 wagon, and I’m guessing the folks who clean these Volvo press cars are happy I didn’t let her jump into this near two-decade fresher take on the iconic Swedish wagon, bringing mud, hair, twigs and possibly drool. Final thoughts But what of the future of the Volvo wagon? There are hints of station wagons in Volvo’s electric future. Whether or not it will make it to Canadian shores is another matter.
For those wagon-loving hipsters, smart domestic types and dog lovers, there’s always hope. “Volvo is not a company that disregards it heritage,” says its head of global offer, Warren Davidson. “SUVs are extremely important to us but they’re not the only part of what we do.
We’ve done beautiful wagons for years.” Sign up for our newsletter Blind-Spot Monitor and follow our social channels on X , Tiktok and LinkedIn to stay up to date on the latest automotive news, reviews, car culture, and vehicle shopping advice..
