2022 Volvo XC60 vs 2021 Toyota Highlander

Toyota hardly needs any help selling three-row Highlanders. It already sits close to the top of the sales charts for its segment, and few vehicles carry the name recognition as the Highlander, which enters into its 20th year of production.

But the three-row marketplace is a competitive one, and even after a 2020 redesign, Toyota would be foolish to rest on its laurels. As such, the Highlander enters this year with additional safety-feature technology listed as standard equipment.

The 2022 Volvo XC60 brings the Swedish automaker’s signature style and solid engineering to one of the most popular luxury SUV segments. Slotting between the XC40 and XC90 in size, the XC60 competes against crossover SUVs like the Acura RDX, Audi Q5, BMW X3, Infiniti QX50, Lexus NX, and Mercedes-Benz GLC-Class. With so many choices, Volvo needed to keep the XC60 fresh. So, the automaker gave it some notable updates for the 2022 model year.

The current version of the XC60, representing the model’s second generation, has been around since the 2018 model year. For 2022, it gets new mild-hybrid powertrains, mildly updated exterior styling, and the Android-based infotainment system previously seen in the electric Volvo XC40 Recharge and Polestar 2.

The reshuffled 2022 XC60 lineup includes the B5 mild hybrid with Momentum, R-Design, and Inscription trim levels, the B6 mild hybrid (which skips the base Momentum trim level), and the carryover Volvo XC60 T8 Recharge plug-in hybrid in Inscription, R-Design, and sporty Polestar Engineered guises. We spent a day driving the B6 R-Design model around New York’s Hudson Valley.