First new Volvo XC60 rolls off the line at Volvo’s Torslanda plant in Sweden

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The new Volvo XC60 has now officially gone in to production at Volvo’s Torslanda plant in Sweden, with the first car rolling off the line at lunchtime.

A couple of weeks ago we revealed that Volvo was planning to celebrate its 90th year of car production by starting production of the new XC60 in the same month 90 years on from when the first Volvo OV4 was revealed. And they’ve done it by the skin of their teeth.

With just a few days left of April, the first new XC60 – a Volvo XC60 T5 AWD Inscription in Crystal White – has rolled off the production line at Volvo’s Torslanda plant in Sweden and is heading for a customer delivery.

The T5 petrol which rolled out of Torslanda isn’t typical of what Volvo will be producing, certainly for Europe, with the initially available D4 and D5 diesels likely to dominate sales, and the XC60 T8 Twin Engine hybrid offering the performance star for the range later this year.

Magnus Nilsson, vice president of Volvo’s Torslanda plant, said:

This is a proud day for everyone at the plant.

We have worked hard in recent weeks and months to prepare Torslanda for this latest new Volvo model, and now we are ready to start delivering new XC60s to customers.

With the last XC60 still holding the crown as the best-selling mid-size premium SUV in Europe when it finally ended production, the new XC60 looks set to be a runaway success for Volvo.

But UK buyers will have to wait a bit longer before their new XC60 arrives, as Volvo say UK buyers won’t start getting their cars until Q3 2017 – which could be as late as September.