Volvo Begins Changeover to New S60

A sapphire black S60 rolled off Volvo Car Corp.’s Ghent, Belgium, plant yesterday, on the final day of March.

It was the last of 578,292 current-generation S60s built at the plant since 2000, when production began.

More than 578,000 S60s built since 2000.

“Now we will focus on a flawless launch of the new S60,” says Derek Jessiman, managing director of the plant.

Jessiman will oversee an expansion of the S60 assembly line and a retooling of the body shop to accommodate the new model.

Volvo won't begin producing the next-generation S60 until next year. The new car will share its architecture with the S80, V70, SC70 and recently launched SC60.

The second-generation S60 won't arrive in the U.S. until the ’11 model is shipped. There will be no ’10 model S60 sold in the U.S.

Volvo says S60 production peaked in 2001 when 108,906 cars rolled off the Ghent assembly line. The last car will be delivered in a few weeks to a customer in Taiwan.