This Autos

2015 Volvo XC90 Review Specs-The financial doom and gloom might be diminishing into memory, but the lingering effects go on. Volvo, for just one, was deeply suffering from the downturn, as Ford jettisoned it during the depths of that will American company’s difficulties. The Swedish automaker finished up being purchased by Geely, the rising Chinese company, and after a few years of management churn, Volvo now seems to be on a stable path, with Swedish management in position and a considerable amount of independence.

For evidence of the impact your fiscal turmoil had on Volvo, consider how the XC90 SUV, a stalwart on the lineup, is stepping into its 12th yr of production. Some Japanese carmakers might have covered three model cycles in that time, and even the Germans might have done two. Last but not least, Volvo is prepping a new-gen XC90, thatll go on sale made in March of next year. And we simply got a taste on the new machine.

We say “taste” because this was definitely not a typical press launch. We spent half a day with the car at a mysterious Volvo capability in northern Sweden, but all we were permitted to do was ride within it. We also weren’t permitted to write photos of the car without its Rubbermaid-like camo.

But Volvo did let us see the undisguised version—and sit within it. The new ute has little in accordance with the now-hoary current XC90 and its particular comparatively tailored sheetmetal. Good design language introduced by way of a gorgeous trio of recent concept autos, the next-gen design is slick and also smooth, with a higher hoodline and the upright and choose to bluff grille and entry end. Volvo desired to give the new model an increasingly macho look, nevertheless it didn’t want the SUV appearing overly aggressive. And this XC90 lacks your old one’s wedgy page. Its headlights are horizontal and narrow—a obvious separation form your original’s large illumination units. Overall, the new soap-bar smooth XC looks a little less distinctive than its predecessor each time when competitive models are making robust visual statements, yet it’s still good looking.

Inside, the new model moves in a very unique, and characteristically Swedish, path. In place on the platoons of buttons, switches, and pulls that line your central stacks and also consoles of a few Volvos, the XC90 incorporates a central LCD screen above a single knob flanked by three buttons about each side—plus the commencement button adjacent to the steering column. It’s greatly in the Hammer & Olufsen “less is more” control viewpoint, and it seems to be clean, elegant, and also attractive.

Of program, how it works will depend on the intuitive performance of their LCD screen, and also here again, Volvo has taken an unusual path. Unlike every some other automaker save Tesla, Volvo provides positioned its 9. 3-inch touch screen vertically and endowed it with iPad-like function.