The 2011 Volvo S60 suffered an embarrassing snafu last week when its collision avoidance system failed to operate during a demonstration, but this week's price announcement is likely to gain it a more positive sort of attention: it starts at $37,700 and offers features not available on other luxury sedans, including pedestrian detection.

Volvo's touting its advantage in standard all-wheel drive as well, a pricey upgrade when available on competitive cars. The company is even claiming price advantage of up to $7,000 against competitors from BMW, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz. But there's more to the issue than that first gloss.

Comparing apples-to-apples, the 300-horsepower, 325 pound-foot 2011 Volvo S60 T6 AWD starts at $37,700--about $2,000 less than the base price of the 2010 Mercedes C350 and nearly $5,000 less than the 2010 BMW 335i xDrive. The Lexus IS 350 is about $100 cheaper than the new S60, but doesn't offer all-wheel drive. So it's very competitive on price before you start adding technology others don't have.

And the pedestrian detection system that's available on the 2011 S60 is pretty cool technology, since it goes a step beyond detecting pedestrians--something BMW and Mercedes have been doing for a while now-- to actually employing an avoidance system. Volvo says it's capable of avoiding all collisions with pedestrians below 15 mph. And a new S60 with the system equipped will run you just $41,400.

For more on the pedestrian detection system, read our article here and hit up page two for the full list of pricing and options.

[Volvo]


2011 Volvo S60 T6 AWD - $37,700
Destination charges - $850

Premium Package - $1,500
Power glass moonroof
Power passenger seat
Dual Xenon gas discharge headlights with Active Bending Light (ABL)

Climate Package - $800
Heated front seat
Heated windshield washer nozzles
Headlight washers
Rainsensor wipers
Interior Air Quality System (IAQS)

Multimedia Package - $2,700
Premium Multimedia Sound System with MultEQ XT by Audyssey,
Dolby Pro Logic II, 650 watts, 12 premium loudspeakers
Rear park assist camera
Navigation system with real time traffic updates
Map Care with two complimentary navigation updates

Technology Package - $2,100
Pedestrian Detection with Full Auto Brake
Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) with Queue Assist
Collision Warning with Full Auto Brake
Distance Alert
Lane Departure Warning

Single Options
Metallic paint - $550
Premium Electric Silver paint - $675
Urbane Wood inlays - $300
Front and rear Park Assist - $500
Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) - $700
Personal Car Communicator (PCC) - $550
Touring chassis - N/C option
FOUR-C (Continuously Controlled Chassis Concept) Active Chassis - $750
17-inch "Njord" alloy wheels - N/C option
17-inch "Njord" alloy wheels with self supporting tires - $500

Volvo Cars of North America, LLC, www.volvocars.com/us is a subsidiary of Volvo Car Corporation of Gothenburg, Sweden.  VCNA provides marketing, sales, parts, service, technology and training support to Volvo automobile retailers in the United States, and oversees Volvo operations in Canada.  For more information on the entire Volvo product lineup please refer to the Volvo Cars of North America, LLC, public relations website at: http://www.volvocars-pr.com/.

*price does not include $850 destination charge