Volvo is considered among the luxury brands, along with Audi, BMW and Mercedes Benz. The question that I regularly ask myself is why? That’s because sometimes I feel that we need to re-calibrate how we consider car brands.

That luxury badge needs to be earned by a series of measures, features or barometers that we can rank the cars against. Prestige and luxury are often in the mind, not necessarily in the metal, especially when it comes to cars.

I bring this point to your attention after a week driving the Volvo S60. I came away from the car impressed with its abilities in a practical sense, but not necessarily convinced about its luxury status. That seems to be a feeling that is creeping into the brand itself, as prices have become more competitive and rightly so.

This S60 is a car that’s considered in my mind in the Audi A4 and BMW 3 Series class, in terms of size. So does it measure up in terms of performance and space for this group?

The D2 specification car that I drove is powered by a 1.6-litre turbo-diesel engine. There are other more powerful diesel and petrol engine options, and this engine gives the car a competitive base entry price of €29,995 (£21,295 in NI), before delivery charges.

So I’ve looked at the S60 D2 relative to the entry level cars from the other competitors in a number of respects.

On the measurable features, the comparable entry car is the BMW 316d, which is more powerful and faster than the Volvo. Volvo’s 115bhp engine performance is the lowest and so too is its acceleration pace.

It scores high on torque and good on economy – the latter being the key feature for many drivers. There is a marginally better economy figure from the Volvo, coupled with a bigger-capacity fuel tank, so the car’s range on a full tank will be impressive. And I can vouch for that with over 1,000km possible without a fuel stop.

The good economy gives a low CO2 rating and that means low ownership costs. At €190 per annum, the motor tax cost and running costs will be lower than the competition.

The car drives smoothly, but not energetically, and the six-speed gearbox is light to use. There is a good feel to the gear lever and steering wheel to make driving comfortable. The dash layout is classically Swedish with Ikea minimalism and I like that clutter-free effect. The seating was firm and easily adjustable. It’s a kind of minimalist luxury feel – you know that it’s all there, you just don’t see it all of the time.

Because it’s a Volvo, there is plenty of safety gear on board. The entry-level car comes with loads of airbags, Isofix seating kits in the rear, as well as hill-start, stop/start and Bluetooth connection.

The Volvo city safety system is on the standard car and this makes city driving easier, as the car will identify pedestrians or other cars and stop automatically if you don’t spot them.

Despite the Volvo badge, this car just doesn’t look or feel especially luxury in terms of driving or features. Its wheelbase is shorter than the competition, while the overall length of the car is much the same. Internal headroom front and rear is less and the boot seems smaller. It also lacks a spare wheel of any sort.

This gives the car a larger external look without the internal space.

I expected that the S60 will have the average 1,500kg towing rating that’s a feature of the competition. I was surprised that the manufacturer’s tag showed a figure of 1,050kg, which is significantly lower.

I came away from the Volvo S60 a little disappointed in the performance, the measurable features of space and the lack of the luxury feel that I had expected from the Swedish brand. I’ve re-calibrated by opinion of the word luxury, while I’m impressed to a point at the price figures.

The entry price makes the car affordable. You will need to add one of the Volvo packages to the base car for some level of driving features. There are five on offer, the least expensive of which is the winter pack with heated front seats, rain sensor, heated windscreen and heated washer nozzles. The most expensive pack is the business support package connect, costing €2,727.

The Volvo brand can be competitive, while still retaining core safety values.

In a world where car safety features are a given, I’m just not sure luxury rates high.