All-new 2018 Volvo XC60 will feature three new autonomous features

Volvo recently confirmed that it’s going to unveil the all-new 2018 XC60 at the Geneva Auto Show next month. The car will follow in the footsteps of other all-new vehicles, including the XC90, S90 and V90. It hasn’t refreshed the XC60 yet, so that’s what we’re finally going to see in Geneva, but we’re also going to see some of Volvo’s latest advancements in driver safety.

Quick refresher: the XC60 is best known as Volvo’s smaller SUV (check out this drive through a Vermont snowstorm), with two rows of seats instead of three found in the larger XC90. Volvo made a big splash with the all-new XC90 in recent years, particularly on the safety side with advanced autonomous driving technology and all-new looks. Expect the same with the XC60 redesign, but with more tech.

“We have been working with collision avoidance systems for many years and we can see how effective they are,” Volvo said on Tuesday. “In Sweden alone we have seen a decline of around 45 per cent in rear-end frontal crashes thanks to our collision warning with autobrake system. With the XC60 we are determined to take the next step in reducing avoidable collisions with the addition of steering support and assistance systems,” said Malin Ekholm, Senior Director, Volvo Cars’ Safety Centre. Volvo said the XC60 will “feature three new advanced driver assistance features aimed at keeping the driver out of trouble.”

Those features include new City Safety, which takes over the steering wheel in case automatic braking wouldn’t help avoid a collision, and Oncoming Lane Mitigation, which “helps drivers to avoid collisions with vehicles in an oncoming lane.” Finally, Volvo is introducing an update to its optional blind spot detection systems (BLIS) that “helps to avoid potential collisions with vehicles in a blind spot by steering the car back into its own lane and away from danger.”

Volvo recently posted a small teaser of the all-new XC60 that we included above. You’ll note the “Thor’s hammer” headlights, which have made an appearance on all of Volvo’s “all-new” vehicles. My guess is we’ll see autonomous features, since Volvo has made that pretty standard on its way to “Volvo Vision 2020,” part of its plan to make sure nobody behind the wheel of a Volvo is killed or seriously injured by the year 2020.

Also on deck? Plenty of Swedish luxury.