CAR buyers around the world are, in the main, a pretty discerning bunch.

So when it comes to putting their hard earned money where their mouth is they tend to know a good thing.

Which is why the Volvo XC60 is the Swedish care maker's best selling model globally.

In the UK it drops to second place behind it's smaller sibling the XC40, but both are big sellers.

This premium mid-size Volvo SUV - smaller than the XC 40 but larger than the huge XC90 - was voted World Car of the year in 2018 which hasn't done its sales figures any harm.

Now the model is available with a choice of petrol, diesel and - as driven here - plug-in hybrid power.

This combines a 2.0-litre 253 bhp petrol engine with an 87 bhp electric motor to produce impressive performance as well as economical motoring.

The car starts in electric mode and, depending upon conditions, flips from electric to petrol or a combination of the two in a seamless manner.

You can opt to drive in pure electric for town and city work but don't expect it to last long on the open road. In fact without the petrol engine the XC60 has a range of around 30 miles, which while small is often enough for people to get to and from work without having to ever use the engine.

In practice with the two systems working in tandem that 30 miles is stretched because the engine does put some charge back into the battery.

And the bonus of this system is you are never going to get stuck if you can't find anywhere to plug in to charge your car.

The T6 all-wheel-drive Inscription model is one of those cars which just seems to have everything right.

It's high stance means good all round vision, the build quality is faultless and there's more interior space than most families would ever need or want.

The cabin is a masterpiece of minimalist Swedish design with a combination of Nappa leather upholstery and driftwood inlays on the dashboard.

There's an iPad-style touch screen in the centre of the dashboard which allows you to access everything from the car's safety systems to its top quality Bowers and Wilkins audio system, not to mention its self parking facility.

And if you want to park up yourself a 360 degree view from above of the car and the surrounding area - the best in the business - make it simple.

Other features worthy of mention on the Inscription model driven here include an opening panoramic glass sunroof, heated front and rear seats, heated steering wheel and powered tailgate.

Some of these features were optional extras, however, which pushed up the price from just over £55,000 to nearly £64,000. Budget priced the XC60 is not.

When you get behind the wheel you have a choice of five different driving modes including Power - for sporty motoring - and Off-road.

Despite its size this is a quick car, hitting 62 miles per hour in just 5.9 seconds utilising its seamless eight-speed automatic gearbox to the full.

If you want even more sporting motoring a quick flick of the gearshift allows you to switch to manual gear changes to exploit the rev range to the maximum.

And being a Volvo it's packed with more safety features than you would ever expect, and many you've probably never even heard of.