OFFICIAL IMAGES: NEW VOLVO S60

These are the first official images of the new Volvo S60, the car that Volvo hopes will tackle the BMW 3-series and Mercedes C-class head-on.

Unlike the previous Volvo S60, which was sized between a 3-series and a 5-series, the new S60 has been machine-washed on a hot cycle to bring it down to true compact exec dimensions (that would explain the oddly melted look to the styling, we suppose).

Volvo is also being unusually bullish about the car's dynamic prowess, saying that it will be the sportiest car it has ever produced.

"The all-new Volvo S60 is sculpted to move you," says Volvo's CEO, Stephen Odell. "The customers in this segment want emotional appeal, sporty design and dynamic driving properties. The S60 has it all."

The Ford EUCD underpinnings should certainly take the S60 in the right direction (that's the same platform that lies beneath the dynamically impressive Mondeo), even if driven front wheels will still make it wrong-wheel drive.

Volvo is being tight-lipped about specific technical details, and it hasn't yet revealed the car's interior, but then the S60 isn't due to be revealed in the metal until the Geneva show in March 2010.

Production of the new Volvo S60 will start at the firm's production facility in Gent, Belgium, in early summer of 2010.