The XC90 is one of two Volvo SUVs which are becoming almost immortal. And that’s a good thing. Way out in front of every other vehicle is the XC60, a mere eight years young compared to its bigger brother which the world first saw in 2014.
We weren’t supposed to be here, the company years ago planning and intending for EVs to be its global best-sellers. That will happen; it’s just going to take longer than once forecast. Plus, Volvo has a nice problem: people refuse to stop buying vast numbers of what are now almost classic-status cars. Remember too that the same thing occurred with the previous generations of each.
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Giving buyers a mix of propulsion systems
Run your eyes down the list of Volvo’s current models and it’s soon clear to see that the public really loves the ICE and electrified ones. EVs? Less so, well for now at least. It also depends greatly on the country in question. Swedes wants plug-ins, Americans still largely prefer gasoline engines.
Is a sales mix increasingly biased towards hybrids a bad thing? Of course not. Fittingly, the company’s new-old boss seems to be doing exactly the right thing. Namely, allowing people to buy the vehicles they prefer, knowing that electric cars, SUVs and even now an MPV are likely to be far less profitable.
How Volvo Car Corporation managed to run head-long into financial distress is something to be explored another day. As of now though, what we could term ‘legacy’ models are its future. And that isn’t meant to be provocative; more a fact. VCC remains a pioneer in seeking carbon neutrality and should be applauded for that.
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By GlobalDataWhat’s coming for the under-utilised South Carolina plant
If this OEM could turn back the clock or at least do something big without upsetting the home market workforce, it surely would have done it several decades back. This being to manufacture not only its best selling XC60 in the USA but the XC90 too.
We are where we are, however, and this pair of built-in-Europe SUVs are mega-margin models. Historically a major market for Volvo, people in the USA can’t get enough of them. That’s also the case in many other countries. And it’s an open secret that the XC60 will also be made in South Carolina commencing, well, ASAP: Charleston/Ridgeville used to make the S60, a handy precedent as the platform is in common (the XC90 is also SPA-based).
British buyers tend to be far more keen on electrified vehicles than many of our near-neighbours and yet we’re still an important export destination for fossil-fuel Volvos. In the case of the newly refreshed XC90, that means the choice of petrol mild- or plug-in hybrid power, all-wheel drive being standard for both.
A not-so-minor facelift in fact
It may look as though only the distinctive grille is the main way to tell the updated model from what went before but there are far more exterior changes. Such as slimmer headlights, re-profiled bumper covers and even a differently-shaped bonnet. Wheels too have been replaced and there are fresh paint hues along with some nicely minimalist chrome-look accents.
Volvo has also given the interior a little bit of a once-over, not that much needed to change. It now looks even more elegant, the Less Is More mantra likely being front of mind when the Design team set to work. So we find light-coloured wood, soft plastics and silver trim which is all the very opposite of blingy.
There are very few dials or knobs or buttons; nor has the dinky hazard lights switch become easier to locate in a split second. The screen has had a big update and combined with better software is infinitely better than the one in this car from even a few years back. Now almost everything is easy to find. Thank goodness mirror controls remain real buttons too.
Fantastic interior adaptability
The boot of this seven-seater is still vast. MHEV examples have up to 680 litres of space in five-seat mode while the PHEVs lose 40 of that due to the positioning of the battery and associated components. Flip the third row, which folds flat, and hey presto, a massive space is opened up for holiday trips.
Volvo has little by little become a true premium brand during the last quarter century, the XC90’s fit and finish being the equal or better than that of equivalent BMW, Land Rover, Mercedes or Audi models. You can see and feel that just from things such as the high quality carpeting and solidity of luggage bay pull-up floor panels.
For a model which probably wasn’t meant to still be around in 2025, its now eventual replacement being the EX90, the XC90 still competes in most ways. With air suspension – it depends on the model grade – body roll is well checked, there isn’t much in the way of pitching under braking and comfort is excellent. Steering is far lighter than in an X5 but that’s intentional: Volvo customers want it that way.
Still the most crash-proof car in the world?
Something else which VCC gets oh so close to being exactly right is safety and the perception of that. Even being the age that it is, this big SUV remains state of the art for crash protection and has an almost endless number of advanced electronic systems. Merely closing any door makes you see the XC90 was engineered by people who value life.
One of a few small things which are just OK rather than outstanding are ridiculously fiddly sunroof controls. You eventually get used to these being touch-sensitive but a proper plastic switch needs to come back. Here it is again: OEMs and vendors re-inventing things and making them worse. Why would you, as a company, make a change that will annoy your customers, also forcing them to take their eyes off the road?
We will look back at this era of brands self-harming and remember this was when the wise saw an analogue opportunity. How many of us know highly intelligent, often older people who keep putting off a new car purchase as their test drives have been so irritating? Europe is a region replete with vast numbers of rich retirees. It’s sheer stupidity not to use commence sense and design cars for them.
I adore how the EX30 looks. I also feel I know why sales surged then crashed and it’s not to do with the Europe-China duties spat. The demographic it would most suit is largely shunning it. Sure, young Chinese customers love Tesla-like interiors. Any smart company would offer a less digitally-heavy alternative.
Surely premium means works-first-time-every-time
One last frustration with the XC90: the R-N-D selector is not the best in the business. At least you won’t get damp in a downpour due to unintuitive minimalist nonsense stopping a roof being easily closed. One other non-premium thing: the screen, gloss-black plastic trim pieces and ORREFORS SWEDEN branding within a transparent lever soon look far from showroom-perfect.
None of the annoyances really matter in the end as this must be the best Volvo in the line-up. As often happens with a good looking vehicle which stays in production for a decade or more, it ends up at its most elegant after a few facelifts. This one has the stance, the safety systems, decent dynamics and a competitive mix of all other essential abilities for the 5m-long high-priced SUV class.
Volvo would be wise to keep making the XC90 at Torslanda for as long as buyers still want it: the profits from this model (and the XC60) are surely essential to turning things around financially. And getting VCC in sustainable shape for its electric future.
On-the-road pricing for the newly facelifted Volvo XC90 is from GBP63,790 for B5 mild-hybrid versions and from GBP72,650 for T8 plug-in hybrids. VCUK’s model grades are called Core, Plus and Ultra with all-wheel drive standard for all six variants.
