Volvo S60 Cross Country jumps into iffy market

Volvo's S60 Cross Country ventures where other automakers have gone and perhaps wish they wouldn't have.

It's the Chinese owned Swedish car company's sedan with crossover SUV underpinnings. BMW pioneered the segment with X6, and Honda soldiers on with its Accord Crosstour -- though "Accord" is dropped from the name now -- and both sustained 30% sales plunges last year. BMW's X6 fell to fewer 4,000 sales, Crosstour to fewer than 12,000.

Volvo says the S60 Cross Country, on display at the Detroit auto show, "points to the future."

It amounts to the company "stepping up to meet the demands of its core customers," Volvo says.

Its XC -- for cross-country -- wagons have successful, but the S60 will be its first foray into what appears to be an unappealing segment, at least judged by sales.

S60 will go on sale this summer "in limited numbers," Volvo says with no apparent irony.

Engine will be rated about 250 horsepower. Chassis and AWD system are similar to the V60 Cross Country recently introduced.