Indians, we are a frugal lot in general aren’t we? No wonder then that Volvo’s efficient, economical not to mention powerful D5 common rail has been Volvo’s cash cow in India, be it the XC60, S80 or the recently introduced S60. Volvos have been known for their obsession with safety and by the looks of it efficient technology is next.

A month after the S60’s launch in India, Volvo has revealed plans to make their bestselling D5 more powerful, more efficient and cleaner! Yes you read it right cleaner. For those of you that may not know, diesel engines can be easily tweaked for more power, the trade off comes in terms of increased emissions. Volvo’s claim about a cleaner and a better engine means no corners have been cut and the newer engine will be better in true sense of the word.

The new D5 shall now be a Twin Turbo Diesel and will see a complete overhaul of its internals, including weight optimized camshafts and connecting rods, low friction piston rings, chain driven oil pump, better optimized vacuum pump and piston cooling valves that will cool the engine on demand.

This means a power increment of 10 horses and increase in torque production by 20 Nm. Combine this with the increased fuel efficiency of 8% and substantially decreased emissions and we have a true winner on our hands.

India is no longer treated as a second rate market. That and the fact that Volvos in India are CBUs imported directly from Sweden; chances are that we may get to see the newer D5s in India sooner than we think.