Volvo closes in on 2 key goals with redesigned XC60

Volvo will use the redesigned XC60 to move closer to two of its midterm goals: having a fully autonomous car on the road in 2021 and making sure no one is killed or seriously injured in one of its new vehicles by 2020.

The second generation of Volvo's global best-seller will debut at the Geneva auto show on March 7. It will have three new advanced driver assistance features that provide the driver with automatic steering assistance or support -- when needed -- to help avoid potential collisions.

The XC60's City Safety system has been updated to include steering assistance, which engages when automatic braking alone would not help avoid a potential collision with another vehicle, pedestrians or large animals. The steering support is active between 50 and 100 kph (31 mph and 62 mph).

Volvo has also added a system called Oncoming Lane Mitigation, which helps drivers avoid collisions with vehicles in the oncoming lane. The system works by alerting a driver who has drifted out of the lane and by automatically steering the driver out of the path of any oncoming vehicle. This system is works at speeds of 37 to 87 mph.

These two systems are standard in the new XC60.

The third safety technology, which is optional, is called Blind Spot Information System. Along with alerting a driver to the presence of a vehicle that is in the blind spot, the system has been upgraded to steer the car back into its own lane and away from danger.

“All three of these new features represent clear steps in our work toward fully autonomous cars,” Malin Ekholm, senior director of Volvo's safety center, said in a release. “We have all of the benefits of the safety technology we introduced in our larger 90-series cars in the new XC60."