The 2018 Volvo XC60 named North American Utility Vehicle of the Year

The 2018 Volvo XC60 named North American Utility Vehicle of the Year

Applauded for its strong innovations and creative designs, Volvo has been reinventing itself since the stagnant, post-recession part of its history. Today, North American journalists gave one of Volvo’s latest creations an award every manufacturer desires: the North American Utility of The Year Award. But this is not the first time this happens in recent history for Volvo. In 2016, it received the same coveted award with the XC90. A pair of high ranking and well loved 2018 model year utility vehicles made it to the finalist list alongside the XC60: the Alfa Romeo Stelvio and the Honda Odyssey – because passenger-oriented minivans are also eligible for Utility of the Year.

The 2018 Volvo XC60 stays true to the Volvo moto; it aims to be one of the safest cars on the market. Among the active systems that can be found on the XC60 are the Oncoming Lane Mitigation that helps alleviate head-on collisions and the Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) reduces the risk of lane-changing collisions.

Also quite innovative, the Pilot Assist options, which is Volvo’s driver assistance system, can steer, accelerate and brake semi-autonomously at speeds of up to 130km/h.

Volvo’s new powertrains are also features in the 2018 XC60, like the new T8 Twin Engine gasoline plug-in hybrid that develops 407hp.

For the 24th year, the North American Car, Utility and Truck of the year Awards have been given to vehicles that stand out by their innovation, design, safety, performance, technology, driver satisfaction and value.