Volvo plans XC60’s Asia launch in HK as Lamborghini revs Urus and Ford Mustang tops ‘likes’

Hongkongers will be the first in Asia to see the new Volvo XC60 sports utility vehicle in the third quarter of this year, according to Yoko Yeung, spokeswoman of dealer Volvo Hong Kong, a unit of Wearnes Motors (HK). The unveiling is also one of many highlights of Volvo’s 90th anniversary celebrations here. The marque turned 90 on April 14, and the local dealer is already offering a “Swedish tour for two” promotion for 90 Series customers. Volvo Hong Kong is also planning an October anniversary celebration party, and late-year launch for the V90 Cross Country. The marque continues to party here in December and January, when Hong Kong replaces Sanya as a “more glamorous” stopover on the Volvo Ocean Race. Volvo Hong Kong sold “about 500” units in 2016, about 70 per cent of which were XC60 and XC90, the dealer says, but those numbers could improve when the keenly awaited XC60 arrives. Its top model has a 407-horsepower T8 Twin Engine petrol plug-in hybrid promising 100km/h in 5.3 seconds.

Audi Hong Kong launches the latest A5 and S5 range at The Arcade, Cyberport next Friday. The new cars’ local specs and prices are unclear, but the Audi A5 Coupe and A5 Sportback were launched in Paris last year with a 17mm larger interior length, optional head-up display and a best-in-class 480-litre boot. In December the two models earned five-star European crash-test ratings with Audi pre sense and other driver assistance electronics. The S5 Sportback has a 349hp V6 turbocharged TFSI that tonnes in about 4.7 seconds. However, the A5/S5 range is now topped by the “450PS [443hp], sub-four-second Gran Turismo” RS 5 Coupe, which was unveiled in Geneva in March.

The Lamborghini Urus “super sport utility vehicle” will be unveiled in Sant’Agata Bolognese at the end of this year and hits the market in 2018, according to Francesco Scardaoni, managing director of Automobili Lamborghini Greater China. “It will redefine the SUV segment, with its luxury style and true off-road capability,” he told the South China Morning Post last week. “The Urus will be the most powerful, the fastest, and also the most usable SUV. [It] would have true off-road capability; in the meantime, it is also a car for the family, to be used on a daily basis.” The Urus will get a V8 twin turbo engine “because it can guarantee a different torque distribution, which is what we need for off-road usage”, he said. “This means the car has 100 per cent off-road capability and also 100 per cent daily driving capability.The Urus will be the third model in Lamborghini’s product range, and is expected to deliver “additional growth and significant opportunities across the marque”, Scardaoni added. “It will also determine a substantial increase in the production capacity of the factory.” The marque says its workforce increased from 1,298 to 1,415 during 2016. Automobili Lamborghini’s worldwide sales grew by 7 per cent in 2016, from 3,245 to 3,457 units, the marque reported on March 15. The year’s best-selling cars were the Huracan Coupe (from HK$4.18 million) and Spyder – at 2,353 deliveries – up from 2,242 in 2015 – and the 12-cylinder Aventador (from HK$6.65 million), with 1,104 units in 2016, up from 1,003 units.