The Volvo XC60 is joining the NSW police highway patrol fleet. Picture: Joshua Dowling.

NSW Police are adding high-powered Volvo SUVs and heavy duty Toyota LandCruiser 4WDs to the highway patrol fleet to target rural areas after a 50 per cent spike in deaths on country roads over the past two years.

The 14 vehicles — seven Volvos and seven LandCruisers — are not replacements for the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore pursuit cars that will be phased out after local manufacturing shutdowns, they are additional vehicles to be deployed on remote roads.

But high-speed crooks and dodgy drivers need not breathe a sigh of relief — the Volvo XC60 police are getting is no ordinary car.

The most potent model in the XC60 line-up has a turbocharged and supercharged four-cylinder engine that delivers power to all four wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission.

The Volvo XC60 (centre) is not a replacement for the Commodore (left) and Falcon (right) pursuit cars. The additional vehicles will target country roads. Picture: Joshua DowlingSource:News Corp Australia

The first Volvo is due to be unveiled with the launch of “Operation Westforce” in the NSW central-west city of Dubbo today.

Acting Commander of the Traffic & Highway Patrol Command, Assistant Commissioner Michael Corboy said the new vehicles were chosen to access areas where a sedan may have difficulties.

“During Operation Westforce, there will be more than double the number of cars on patrol,” said Assistant Commissioner Corboy.

“Police will be targeting areas where there has been an increase in fatal and serious injury crashes in order to drive down the road toll.”

Figures show 64 lives were lost last year in the NSW Western Region, compared with 40 in 2014.

The Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Troy Grant, said police will be “out in force to catch anyone putting lives at risk behind the wheel”.

“The NSW government has a strong track record of providing our Police Force with the state-of-the-art equipment it needs to keep the community safe, and these new highway patrol vehicles will complement our efforts to reduce the tragic road trauma statistics across regional NSW,” said Minster Grant.

The Volvo XC60 highway patrol cars will have the latest police technology. Picture: Joshua Dowling.Source:News Corp Australia

The Volvo XC60 has slightly slower acceleration than the current Falcon and Commodore pursuit cars — and has a lower top speed of 210kmh — but it is the most advanced vehicle used by NSW highway patrol to date, and will be loaded with the latest police technology.

All cars will be equipped with automatic numberplate recognition cameras, car-mounted radar, handheld radar, drug and alcohol test kits, road spikes, forward and rearward facing in-car videos, and a tablet-style touchscreen that means speeders won’t necessarily get a ticket on the spot, but rather in the mail.

Some cars will also be equipped with cameras that beam live video of critical incidents back to the police operations centre.

The technology fitted to each highway patrol vehicle is estimated to be more than the cost of the car.

Seven Volvos will be joined by seven Toyota LandCruisers for the rural roads safety campaign. Picture: Joshua Dowling.Source:News Corp Australia

The RRP for the high-powered version of the Volvo is close to $70,000 — about $20,000 more than the Holden and Ford pursuit sedans — however News Corp Australia understands Volvo supplied them at a heavily discounted price because it was desperate to win the business in an attempt to change its image.

NSW Police are still in the process of evaluating a new generation highway patrol cars to replace the Falcon and Commodore pursuit cars.

Ford stopped building the Falcon last year and the Commodore V8 reaches the end of the Holden production line this October.

Most states are yet to lock in their highway patrol replacement vehicles, although Queensland police recently took delivery of the first of 200 turbocharged Hyundai sedans.

This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling

Originally published as Police now have … Volvos!