New Volvo XC60 2025 facelift review: big-selling SUV gets a new lease of life
This refreshed Swedish SUV focuses on familiar areas of strength to take on BMW and Audi
Verdict
The XC60 remains steadfast in its pursuit of clean, minimalist design, pleasant interior build quality and overall refinement, ensuring Volvo’s biggest-selling SUV provides a different flavour to its German rivals. The updates for 2025 aren’t significant, but they do keep the XC60 feeling fresh in its ninth year on sale.
Volvo’s future might be electric, but it’s still investing in its current crop of petrol-powered models, with the popular Volvo XC60 the latest to be revamped. Simply calling the XC60 “popular” might be something of an understatement, because in June, the mid-size SUV became the best-selling Volvo in history with 2.7 million sales – surpassing the legendary 240.
Since the XC60 launched in 2008, there have only been two generations and while the current version has been around since 2017, a mid-life refresh has only been introduced this year. That’s not by chance, though – Volvo will soon launch the similarly sized EX60 to provide an all-electric alternative to the XC60. The strategy feels extremely similar to the arrival of the new electric EX90 last year to sit alongside the XC90, which coincidentally received its own refresh in 2024.
The changes mirror the new XC90 as well, with the XC60 gaining a more sophisticated look, bigger touchscreen and much slicker tech. While the XC60 has been one of our favourite premium family SUVs of recent years, there are plenty of shiny new rivals to contend with, such as the fourth-generation BMW X3 and third-generation Audi Q5, both of which launched only last year.
Used - available now
From the outside, there’s not too much to unpack with the updated XC60. At the front, you’ll find a fresh grille design with diagonal slats that ape the ones found on the latest XC90, plus Volvo’s new logo sitting in the centre. Around to the rear, meanwhile, the lights have gained a darker tint.
Three new paint finishes – Forest Lake, Aurora Silver and Mulberry Red – are offered, giving a total of eight to choose from. There’s also a new selection of alloy wheel designs, stretching from 18-inchers to 22s. Our test car, in range-topping Ultra trim, sat on 21-inch wheels and featured the ‘dynamic’ (Volvo-speak for metallic) Forest Lake hue, and also a blacked out grille – pretty much negating the redesign of the grille in one fell swoop.
When the current XC60 was first launched, it came with a rather dinky seven-inch touchscreen. This was replaced soon after with a nine-inch unit, but now there’s a new 11.2-inch, portrait-orientated touchscreen slapped on the dash. And yes, “slapped” really is the best way to describe it, because while those older units were embedded within the dashboard itself, the size of the new display means it sits out rather prominently.
The new touchscreen is exactly the same as you’ll find in the updated XC90 and comes with an identical infotainment set-up. Powered by a new Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, the XC60 loads its menus and responds to inputs quickly. But rather than copying the dazzling ‘everything, everywhere’ layout of Mercedes’ MBUX or the near-infinite configurability of BMW’s iDrive, the Volvo system is quite minimalistic.
The firm says it’s been designed to require fewer taps to reach your desired menu, which is just as well because there are no physical shortcut buttons. What we do like about the set-up is the main screen, which sensibly prioritises the Google-based sat-nav. The audio and smartphone connectivity tab appears below, and while a tap of the always-available home button gets rid of it – and increases the size of the map – it always reappears when you jump back from sub menus.
Along with Google Maps, Google Assistant also comes built-in, with more apps available through the Google Play store, and over-the-air updates taking care of upgrades in future. The XC60 isn’t just for Android users, either, because Apple CarPlay also features, although it doesn’t look as well integrated as the Android set-up. Volvo says it has improved the wireless charging pad, and we’re happy to report our smartphone never got unacceptably hot during charging. Other tweaks inside include an extra cup-holder in the centre console and new Quilted Nordico and Navy Herringbone Weave interior decor options.
A Harman Kardon sound system comes as standard on lower-spec XC60s, although our car benefited from the frankly superior Bowers & Wilkins audio, providing a truly exceptional level of sound quality through a new design of mesh speakers.
The performance of the sound system is assisted by improved noise reduction in the updated XC60. This comes courtesy of extra sound insulation in the A and B-pillars, and on the move the Volvo remains one of the more refined options in its class. We encountered a little bit of road noise due to the larger wheels fitted to our car, although wind noise was dealt with superbly.
Only available in all-wheel-drive guise, the XC60 is still offered with the B5 powertrain, which mates a 2.0-litre petrol engine to a mild-hybrid system for 247bhp and 350Nm of torque. This provides a 0-62mph sprint in a sprightly 6.6 seconds.
There’s also a T6 with another 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol – although this is a plug-in hybrid with an 18.8kWh battery, sending power to an electric motor for a total of 345bhp, with the benchmark 0-62mph time falling to 5.7 seconds. More importantly, there’s up to 51 miles of electric-only driving, which is a little way off the Mercedes GLC 300 e PHEV’s 80 miles and Audi Q5 e-Hybrid’s 70 miles. The T8 has the same plug-in hybrid set-up as the T6, although it’s boosted to 449bhp, with range dropping slightly to 49 miles.
In typical Volvo fashion, there’s not a huge array of driving modes to choose from. In some ways this is a refreshing approach, as it seems like the firm knows its customers aren’t overly interested in endlessly configuring their cars, particularly in relation to performance.
You can switch the powertrain’s output with a dedicated and self-explanatory Off-road mode, an AWD mode, Pure (which relies solely on the electric motor), Power (which pumps out the maximum power at any one time) and Hybrid, which attempts to balance the efficiency of the two power sources.
And it’s in Hybrid mode where the plug-in hybrid XC60 does its best work. We’re not sure how achievable Volvo’s claimed 282.5mpg figure really is, although we found there’s ample electric power for steady town and country driving, and when the engine is required, it’s a rather seamless transition, aside from a distant hum. The silent running of EV power is very well-suited to the laid-back character of the XC60, too.
There are three modes for battery usage as well, with Auto, Charge and Hold. In Charge, the XC60 recharges the battery from brake regeneration (which itself can be modulated from one-pedal driving to engine braking simulation). We found that after 15 minutes in this mode, we added an impressive six miles of electric range.
If you do decide to push the XC60 T8 close to its limits, you’ll find it’s a long way from being the most dynamic car in its class. Thanks to the comfort-oriented air suspension, there’s some noticeable body roll and the steering is light – no matter which of the three steering modes you’re in – and feels quite vague.
It’s obviously fast in a straight line, although the shifts aren’t the quickest, so it doesn’t feel particularly responsive whatever mode you select. There are no steering column-mounted gear shifters, either.
In terms of pricing, the XC60 is cheaper than its BMW X3 and Audi Q5 rivals. The mild-hybrid B5 in base Core trim starts at £48,410, while the BMW costs from £50,165 and the Audi £51,410. It’s worth being careful with the XC60 trim levels, though, because while the plug-in hybrids start at just over £55,000, the highest-specification Ultra with the most potent PHEV powertrain is almost £70,000.
| Model: | Volvo XC60 T8 Ultra |
| Price: | £68,860 |
| Powertrain: | 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder + 1x e-motor |
| Power/torque: | 449bhp/709Nm |
| Transmission: | Eight-speed automatic, four-wheel drive |
| 0-62mph: | 4.9 seconds |
| Top speed: | 112mph |
| Economy/emissions: | 282.5mpg/23g/km |
| Size (L/W/H): | 4,708/1,902/1,651mm |
| On sale: | Now |
Would you like a Volvo XC60 on your driveway? Compare prices for this upmarket SUV and its rivals with our Find A Car service...
Deals on Volvo's XC60 and key rivals
More reviews
Car group tests
In-depth reviews
