THE new Volvo XC60 mid-size SUV has been named World Car of the Year 2018 at the New York Auto Show, adding another accolade to the Swedish car makers portfolio.

The XC60 also scooped the prestigious North American Utility of the Year Award earlier this year, while the XC40 small SUV was named European Car of the Year at the Geneva Motor Show.

In the new XC60, which was Euro NCAP's best overall performer in 2017, Volvo's City Safety Autonomous Emergency Braking system has been enhanced with steering support for when automatic braking alone may not help avoid a potential collision.

In addition, Oncoming Lane Mitigation with Steer Assist helps mitigate head-on collisions, and Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) with Steer Assist functionality has been added to reduce the risk of lane-changing collisions.

Hakan Samuelsson, Volvo's chief executive who himself was voted World Car Person of the Year at the Geneva show in recognition of his work in driving the success of Volvo Cars in recent years, said: "I am pleased to see our company's product investments paying off.

"We are up against some tough competition, but this award for the XC60 shows that Volvo has the right combination of design, connectivity and safety that appeals to customers across the world."

The XC60, which costs from £32,935 is available with a range of diesel and petrol engines, as well as Volvo Cars' award-winning T8 Twin Engine petrol plug-in hybrid.

In another category in the awards, the Range Rover Velar was named as the most beautifully designed vehicle on the planet, winning the World Car Design of the Year title while the Audi A8 was voted best luxury car.