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S90 will be the first legitimate Scandinavian alternative to luxury leaders says global boss
With the arrival of its all-new S90 luxury sedan Volvo has declared itself a true rival for the
German luxury car manufacturers.
Again.
The
Swedish manufacturer has been obsessed with getting on level terms with the
Germans in the eyes of luxury car buyers for years, claiming two previous
S80 generations and the
S60 were capable of achieving that feat.
But in the process of claiming the S90 offers a true alternative to established German iron such as the Audi A6,
BMW 5 Series and
Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Volvo global boss Harken Samuelsson tacitly admitted its predecessors hadn't been up to the job.
"
For the first time we will have with this car an offering for customers who want to buy a sedan but want something different than the Germans and I think we have not been on their shopping list to be quite frank," Samuelsson told motoring.com.au at the
Detroit auto show last week, where the S90 was launched.
"Earlier with the S80 I do not think we had a real offering that could compete with those (German brands), but with this car we now believe we have that offering so sedan customers can now buy the Volvo brand and what the Volvo brand stands for.
"I think that is the really interesting thing, now we have an alternative for those guys also."
Based on the
SPA modular architecture and powered by a forced aspiration four-cylinder engines, including the 300kW T8
Twin Engine all-wheel drive plug-in hybrid, the S90 is the second all-new model to arrive as Volvo totally overhauls its range by 2019.
The second-generation SPA-based
XC90 SUV has already been released.
Next comes the
V90 wagon, then the SPA-based S60/
V60/
XC60 line-up and a new global range of 40 models, including an XC40 for the first time. The
40s will be based on the new
CMA (
Common Modular Architecture) that will be shared with
Chinese parent Geely.
The model rollout – which will be completed by a full-size electric vehicle with a 500km range in 2019 – is designed to play a key role in growing Volvo's annual sales from a record
500,
000 in
2015 to 800,000 by the end of the decade under the
Vision 2020 plan.
While Samuelsson says Volvo has parity in terms of perception with the Germans when it comes to
SUVs, he says the passenger cars have lagged behind. He insists the overhaul underway now will rectify that.
"We should be true alternative to the Germans with our very distinct very special brand offering, which is very premium but not a copy of them. That we should be able to offer for 40, 60, 90, for SUVs, wagons and sedans."
Samuelsson highlighted styling when asked what the S90 delivered that previous Volvos had lacked in their failed previous attempts to get on terms with the Germans.
"Volvos should also look great," he said. "Then we also want to return to our roots and our heritage.
"
We are a Scandinavian car company so of course our cars should look like
Scandinavian design cars.
"And that is what we are demonstrating with this new car."
Samuelsson also stressed that Volvo remained committed to safety, which is now tied heavily in with an autonomous driving future.
Green driving was also a key, he said, emphasised by a commitment to four- and three-cylinder engines, hybridisation and EVs.
"
Safety is part of our heritage and it would be very unwise not to be building on that," he said. "And it is definitely not boring.
"Safety is going to come back into the focus, especially with autonomous drive. Safety will be a very exciting area to be within and we will do that.
"Connectivity and autonomous drive cannot be underestimated. It will make the car much more attractive, especially if you sit for an hour a day in congestion. That time can now be used for much more productive things than sitting supervising a car
."
...
http://www.carsales.com.au/editorial/news/2016/large-passenger/volvo/s90/volvo-claims-parity-with-germans-again-100953
- published: 22 Mar 2016
- views: 2