Photo: Automedia
There have been a number of Volvo products we've liked in the past two years, but none have been truly revolutionary. That changes with the XC90, their flagship model which is coming out in 2015 and will be based on a brand new architecture developed in Sweden
Codenamed V526, the production version of the seven-seat SUV has been spotted on the streets of Copenhagen. Still clad in heavy camouflage, the XC90 does sport the new LED headlights we expected it to. Their design has already been previewed by three different concept cars shown by Volvo in the past year – a small SUV, a coupe and an estate.
Volvo calls its all-new platform the Scalable Platform Architecture, or SPA for short. It will be used by several other models from the 60 and 40 series in the coming years.
The proportions of the new XC90 will be quite impressive. At 4.9 meters from bumper to bumper, it will be 100mm longer than the already large SUV. However, it will be lighter and thus able to be powered by much smaller engines. Volvo has already developed a 2-liter engine that's both turbocharged and supercharged, thus being able to do the job an older 3-liter could. A diesel plug-in hybrid is also likely to arrive some time in the model's life cycle, potentially even a sports petrol hybrid as was previewed by a recent S60L-based concept in Beijing.
Since this XC90 is a flagship model for Volvo, many innovative features will be seen for the first time, just like with the Mercedes S-Class. Apple CarPlay will be fully integrated into the infotainment system, which will mostly rely on a large screen integrated into the dash. This will allow you to conveniently interact with the vehicle in a manner that you're used to from the device in your pocket. And yes, that will include Siri.
The speedometer and rev counter will also use a TFT screen, although this has already been integrated into current Swedish models.
Volvo calls its all-new platform the Scalable Platform Architecture, or SPA for short. It will be used by several other models from the 60 and 40 series in the coming years.
The proportions of the new XC90 will be quite impressive. At 4.9 meters from bumper to bumper, it will be 100mm longer than the already large SUV. However, it will be lighter and thus able to be powered by much smaller engines. Volvo has already developed a 2-liter engine that's both turbocharged and supercharged, thus being able to do the job an older 3-liter could. A diesel plug-in hybrid is also likely to arrive some time in the model's life cycle, potentially even a sports petrol hybrid as was previewed by a recent S60L-based concept in Beijing.
Since this XC90 is a flagship model for Volvo, many innovative features will be seen for the first time, just like with the Mercedes S-Class. Apple CarPlay will be fully integrated into the infotainment system, which will mostly rely on a large screen integrated into the dash. This will allow you to conveniently interact with the vehicle in a manner that you're used to from the device in your pocket. And yes, that will include Siri.
The speedometer and rev counter will also use a TFT screen, although this has already been integrated into current Swedish models.
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