Sausalito, California - Volvo executives will gladly admit it: they too want to surf on the premium compact SUV wave that's currently hitting the auto industry. So, they're introducing the all-new 2010 XC60, a Swedish alternative to the Audi Q5, Mercedes-Benz GLK and even the aging BMW X3.

Volvo enters the premium compact SUV segment with the 2010 XC60.

In order to set their model apart from the competition, the folks at Volvo focused on three key attributes: original styling, premium performance and, obviously, the brand's world-class reputation for developing extremely safe vehicles.

Just like the Q5, the XC60 also gets a permanent all-wheel drive system, but adds a plethora of advanced active and passive safety technologies -- with as many acronyms and abbreviations -- to ensure maximum occupant protection in the event of a collision (WHIPS, SIPS, IC, etc.) and to prevent accidents from happening in the first place (DTSC, IDIS, ABS, etc.). That's not all: Volvo boosts peace of mind and security prior to entering the vehicle with such features as Approach Lighting and privacy glass.

Additionally, the XC60 is the world's first vehicle to be equipped with CitySafety, which uses a low-speed autonomous braking system to protect drivers and those around them, like in stop-and-go traffic. This helps prevent collisions and, of course, injuries to passengers and damages to the vehicle.

Don't believe it? Well, so far, the experiments have yielded impressive results. In fact, aside from ABS and stability control, it's one of the rare active safety systems that buyers can actually put to the test before signing their name on the dotted line.

Eventually, CitySafety could also mean a significant rebate on the insurance premiums of Canadians. In the UK, France, Austria and Switzerland, insurance companies are giving a 20-percent discount to all of their clients who decide to purchase a Volvo XC60. The same thing could happen over here.

The XC60 is the world's first vehicle to be equipped with CitySafety.