Volvo has made its very earliest car in their US plant located in South Carolina. Units of the 2019 Volvo S60 are now rolling off the line at the new plant.
The next-generation midsize sedan is going to arrive in Volvo dealerships in the U.S. this year. Volvo will export 50% of the sedans constructed at the plant to other nations, with worldwide deliveries beginning in spring next year.
The South Carolina facility is the sole plant across the world that will construct the S60. The 2.3-million-square-foot site has a body shop, paint shop, vehicle processing center, office building, as well as final assembly facility. Soon, it will also consist Volvo Cars University, that will provide training and leadership development for the automaker’s team.
The sedan sits on Volvo’s Scalable Product Architecture similar to its midsize siblings, the V60 and XC60. A number of engines will be available in US market: a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder with 250 hp, a supercharged and turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder having 316 hp, and a plug-in hybrid making 400 hp. Each of these powertrains are coupled with an eight-speed automatic transmission.
At this moment, the South Carolina facility is the only one producing the S60. But Volvo will include production of a second model, the next-generation XC90, in 2021. With two model lines, the automaker will be capable to construct 150,000 cars on annual basis at the plant.