Category: Large Family 
Price Range: £16,495 to £24,335
Spacious, smart image, well-built, AWD option, all the assets of the V70 in a scaled-down package.
Stiff clutch of T5, premium prices.
Not cheap, but excellent quality and a practical family vehicle.
The V50 boasts high equipment levels, and is good value for money - especially compared to its more expensive German rivals.
Fuel economy isn't fantastic from the petrol models: 38.7mpg for the 1.8i, 32.8mpg for the 2.4i and 32.1mpg for the T5 (29.4mpg for the AWD version) but then it is a heavy vehicle; carbon dioxide output, and hence company car tax bandings, is correspondingly on the high side: 174g/km, 204g/km, 209g/km and 229g/km respectively. The diesel does better with 48.7mpg and 154g/km.
Servicing should be cheaper at a Volvo dealer than at BMW, Mercedes or Audi outlets, however.
