Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid: Production to double to cope with demand

It’s particularly appealing if you like a car with a decent turn of speed – the V60 will do 0-62mph in 6.1 seconds – like the reassurance and practicality of 4WD – the V60′s electric motor drives the back wheels – drive in to London on a regular basis – the 48g/km emissions are congestion charge free – and get taxed as BIK from your company.

If all those apply – and you already appreciate the Volvo V60 is a very good car to start with – then the V60 plug-in hybrid is a bit of a no-brainer, even with a headline price of nearly £50k (which gets within £6k of an equivalent non plug-in after the taxpayer has chipped in).

It seems that many buyers agree, and Volvo is being inundated with orders. It planned to built just 1,000 plug-in V60s in the first year, rising to 4-6000 in 2014, but with orders flying in from around Europe from car buyers seeking a way to escape ‘CO2 Taxes’ (Dutch drivers alone have ordered 3,000) Volvo are trying to increase production to 10,000 a year.

That may sound straightforward – especially as the V60 plug-in is built on the same production line as the regular V60 (and the V70, S80 and XC90) – but there are a lot of extra components in the plug-in that have to come from Volvo’s supply chain, so it’s not just a question of building more V60 plug-ins but getting the bits to make them in the first place.

But with a hit car on their hands, we’re sure Volvo will find a way.

Source: Auto Motor Sport

By Cars UK