2026 Volvo XC60 First Drive: Aging Gracefully and Snatching a Sales Record

Motor Trend

18-07-2025

When you think of the bestselling Volvo of all time, you probably think of some boxy, slightly ungainly looking thing from the 1970s, '80s, or '90s. Like a 240, or maybe the later 850. These were the Volvos from the before times, when the marque was known for reliability and safety and rectilinear cars that appeared to have been drawn by an unimaginative preschooler. Since the early 2000s, however, Volvo has been on something of a styling and technology kick. Modern Volvo is a luxury player with vehicles that are low-key sexy—a win-win-win given its continued excellence in crash safety. And one of those new-age, sorta-hot Volvos is the brand's bestseller: the XC60.
The 2026 Volvo XC60, a best-selling luxury SUV, gets minor updates like a new grille, colors, and an enhanced touchscreen UX. It retains its hybrid powertrains, offering smooth power delivery. Production will soon move to the U.S. Pricing starts at an estimated $49,000.
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Volvo's compact luxury SUV has existed since 2008, and today's version—on sale since 2017—represents only its second generation ever. Sales just passed the 2.7 million mark, placing it ahead of the 240, which ultimately served longer, its sales spanning 1974–1993.
It appears Volvo's penchant for keeping cars around for long production runs hasn't disappeared, because instead of a redesign—which any contemporary vehicle as old as the XC60 would typically get after eight years on sale—it's now received a mild freshening and a new lease on life.
Remember, Volvo committed to replacing its lineup with all-electric models by 2030 before recently walking that back and remaining open to gas-electric hybrids. While it reshuffles its priorities, Volvo is still introducing all-new EVs such as the smaller EX30 and larger EX90 SUVs, and soon an EX60 (the electric equivalent to the XC60) will join them. In the meantime, existing models like the XC90 and XC60 are seeing their lifespans extended. So What's New With the 2026 XC60?
To that end, the 2026 Volvo XC60 adopts a flurry of minor changes like those Volvo threw at the larger three-row XC90. To anyone who isn't a close Volvo follower, the 2026 XC60 will look no different from a 2025 XC60, which won't look any different from a 2018 XC60 (the first model year of this generation). Look really closely, however, and you might notice the new grille and its funky geometric slat pattern, dark-tinted taillights, and new wheel designs. There also are new paint colors, including a saucy Mulberry Red, Aurora Silver, and Forest Lake (smoky green) that join the existing Bright Dusk (beige), Denim Blue, Crystal White, and Onyx Black.
What matters here is that, while lacking newness, the Volvo XC60 remains attractive even in its wise old age. It has an athletic, strong-shouldered stance and a good mix of curves and hard lines that helped the design hold up for so long.
Volvo stuffs the interior with more changes. Front and center is a new touchscreen running the brand's latest UX, which is shared with the new EVs (EX30, EX90, and upcoming EX60) as well as the similarly updated XC90. As on the latter, the new display curiously pokes out of the dashboard—before, the XC60's vertical touchscreen was sunken somewhat into the dash—though barely, as if you hung an iPad on the wall like a picture frame. Mostly, this odd detail affords Volvo more screen space. With no major changes to the dashboard itself, the display overlaps the surrounding real estate.
Again, what counts more than the visuals is how it works, and the new UX with Google Built-In and Apple CarPlay is much better than the old one, with clearly defined on-screen areas for various common functions: a map up top, audio and phone menus below that, and a consistent climate control widget that lives at the bottom.
Thanks to a new Snapdragon chipset, the screen responds instantly to touch inputs, and overall ease of use is high. As a bonus for existing XC60 customers, Volvo is rolling out a software update that brings the new display's on-screen layout to 2018–2025 XC60s. You don't get the snappy response (because the update is software, not hardware like a new screen or that snappy dragon chip), but the improvement should still be stark and welcome.
Other changes inside are minor and include new recycled upholstery options and new speaker grille designs for the available 15-speaker Bowers & Wilkins audio system. With no dimensional changes, cabin space is the same as before; the rear seat is good, not great, with OK legroom and headroom and a somewhat tall sill you must step over to enter. And How Does It Drive?
If you guessed 'the same,' congratulations. Volvo specifies no major mechanical updates for the XC60, which is available with the brand's B5 mild hybrid powertrain or T8 plug-in hybrid option. The B5 uses the same 247-hp 2.0-liter turbocharged I-4 and eight-speed automatic transmission as before, and it again includes all-wheel drive as standard. Spicier are the T8 models, which combine a turbocharged and supercharged version of the same 2.0-liter I-4 with a 143-hp electric motor for a stonkin' 455 hp and 523 lb-ft of torque combined.
Our brief drive in the 2026 Volvo XC60 was limited to a fully loaded T8 model on the available 21-inch wheels. As before, it has air suspension. The XC60, even with its 455-hp plug-in setup, is more of an all-arounder than a sports SUV, though as before, buyers can skew that math somewhat with the Polestar Engineered package. Restricted to the T8, this sport kit includes Öhlins performance shock absorbers, Akebono brakes with yellow-painted calipers, and 21- or 22-inch wheels with summer tires.
The XC60 T8 we drove was Polestar-less, though we should point out Volvo's link to that company, which now offers its own lineup of sporty electric-only cars and SUVs, lives on beyond the performance package. The new Volvo UX is, essentially, the same as the one used in new Polestar models.
It's hard to overstate how clever the T8 is for the average buyer—on one hand, you can rocket through traffic with BMW M and Mercedes-AMG levels of horsepower, and on the other, whisper to and fro on electric power alone for up to 35 miles at a time. (Final 2026 model-year EPA ratings are forthcoming, but we assume the XC60 B5 and T8 models get essentially the same ratings as last year.) Drivers can lock the XC60 T8 into EV-only mode (labeled Pure by Volvo) or let the XC60's computers sort out the optimal disbursement of electric power in the Hybrid drive mode. Per the EPA, a 2025 XC60 T8 using hybrid mode is rated to return 28 mpg combined—2 mpg better than the XC60 B5. This despite the T8 packing nearly double the horsepower and chopping a full 2.0 seconds off the B5's claimed 0–60-mph time for a quick 4.5-second run.
That power in the Hybrid mode is blended smoothly and without untoward surging or other weirdness, and the XC60 rides firmly but with refined bump absorption. The steering is weighted nicely but doesn't offer Porsche (or even Polestar) levels of feedback. For the EV-curious out there, selecting 'B'—essentially the transmission's low gearing—calls up a de facto one-pedal drive mode, in which lifting off the accelerator pedal gradually increases the electric motor's slowing force; the XC60 can eventually be stopped this way without touching the brake pedal.
Mostly, the driving experience is upscale and no-nonsense—a distinctly Volvo trait that, while not exactly overflowing from the attractive styling inside and out, links the XC60 to the old 240 it just outpaced for all-time sales. With changes addressing known weak spots (namely the onboard tech stack) and no unnecessary changes to the rest of the already solid package, the 2026 XC60 takes small, careful steps forward. Its next redesign may be years away, but there is big news on the horizon: By the end of next year, Volvo will begin building the XC60 here in the U.S. at its South Carolina facility. That should help it mitigate ever-changing tariffs and keep pricing similar to last year's XC60 B5 ($48,345 to start) and T8 ($59,345 and up).