Seeing Volvo’s president and CEO Stefan Jacoby driving the all-new XC60 Plug-in Hybrid Concept on stage during the car’s launch in Detroit shows how important the U.S. market is to the (Chinese-owned) Swedish manufacturer.

That’s because the USA remains the brand’s biggest market in the world and in which it recorded a 25 percent sales increase in 2011 on top of a 20 percent rise the previous year.

The XC60 Plug-in Hybrid may be a concept, but Volvo is already openly talking about developing a production version and the impact it expects to have in North America.

Last month, Volvo launched the production version of its first-ever plug-in hybrid model based on the V60, which will go on sale in limited numbers this November in certain European countries.

Today, the Swedish car manufacturer announced that it would soon be adding another plug-in hybrid in its range, this time based on the XC60 crossover featuring a gasoline (instead of a diesel internal combustion engine like the V60 PHEV).

Volvo only just introduced its Polestar performance program in the United States on November 7, yet the Swedish carmaker is already expanding its offerings to include the 2011-2012 XC60, S60 and XC70 models fitted with a T6 engine.

The new T6 Polestar ECU upgrade package increases power from 300-horses to 325HP and peak torque from 324 lb-ft to 354 lb.-ft. on all three models. According to Volvo, the power increase does not affect the cars' average fuel consumption numbers.

Volvo XC60 Review


Volvo XC60 Cars Price  Rs 39,50,000* - Rs 39,50,000*

Volvo Auto India has launched Volvo XC60, a new mid-size SUV, in India today. The Volvo XC60 is powered by a 2.4 litre, 5 cylinder turbocharged diesel engine that lays out maximum power of 205hp at 4000 rpm and belts out maximum torque of 420 Nm at 1500-3250 rpm. The car comes featured with Laser assisted automatic braking, Haldex AWD with instant traction,9 exterior body colors, twin tone leather interiors, turn with steering lights.