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Volvo Successfully Pivots To SUVS, Out-Pacing Market

This article is more than 4 years old.

Volvo Cars

During a very fallow product period that came before Volvo’s introduction of its XC90 crossover SUV, questions about the brand’s survival were everywhere. After all, in an industry as hotly competitive as the global auto industry, it is difficult to go a single year without any new products, lot less five or 10. But somehow Volvo managed to survive that dreary portion of its history, a multi-year period in which it leveraged the relative financial security of its then-new Chinese ownership to assemble a platform and product plan that was heavy in crossover SUVs. And that product plan has led to growth that is outpacing the U.S. market year-to-date.

These days, due to changes in sales reporting from some major companies (not Volvo by the way), it has become harder to determine the exact pace of the market. But it is significantly less difficult to determine that Volvo’s U.S. sales were up 2.2% month-over-month for the just-completed month of August 2019 and that year-to-date sales are up 4.4%.

Volvo Cars

The key reason for the positive news in what is, at best, a lukewarm U.S. retail auto picture is the Swedish brand’s pivot to crossover SUVs. A simple look at the sales figures through August tells that tale quite vividly. The three-row XC90 luxury crossover SUV and the midsize two-row XC60 luxury crossover have been the mainstays of Volvo’s sales success, contributing some 42,000 of the brand’s 68,000+ unit sales year-to-date. And to that, you can add another 12,133 sales contributed by Volvo’s most recent crossover, the highly popular XC40 compact SUV.

“We just wish we could get more of them,” Dean Shaw, VP, Corporate Communications, Volvo Car USA, told a recent gathering of Canadian and U.S. press in Banff, Alberta. “The model has been incredibly popular around the world, and the market just can’t get enough of them.”

The strategic decision to transition from a premium sedan-and-station-wagon brand to a luxury crossover-dominated brand is exemplified by the models Volvo decided to show off at its recent press briefing. All were essentially crossovers, although you could make the case that the V60 Cross Country, based on the same platform as the S60 sedan is a “car.” We have to believe Volvo executives would like its prospective customers to think of the V60 Cross Country as a crossover and part of the brand’s SUV lineup since station wagons are about as popular Conestoga wagons these days.

Volvo Cars

Enhancements versus big changes exemplify Volvo’s 2020 lineup. The mainstay XC90 is a case in point. The styling changes are subtle. The signature Volvo grille has been changed from a convex to a concave design; 19-inch wheels have been added to the standard equipment list and all the wheel designs are new. The 2020 XC90 is also the recipient of standard integrated roof rails and revised tailpipes.

Probably the biggest alteration is the addition of a six-passenger version of the SUV with a “pass-through” between two individual second-row seats. A second-row bench seat remains available as well, but Volvo execs expect the new configuration to be very popular here in the United States, saying American customers have been seeking the pass-through for easier third-row access.

Volvo Cars

Another interesting interior change is the availability of wool-blend fabric seat coverings. Leather seats have been the dominant choice for decades now, but Volvo thinks the wool-blend seats will appeal to a certain mindset. Drivers will also appreciate the newly standard 12.3-inch digital display.

The XC90 employs what has become the standard Volvo powertrain lineup. The base T5 front-drive package includes a turbocharged 2.0-liter in-line four-cylinder that delivers 282 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of peak torque. The mid-level T6 all-wheel-drive package features the same basic engine, but it is equipped with supercharging as well as turbocharging to deliver 316 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of peak torque. At the top of the line is the T8 all-wheel-drive plug-in hybrid powertrain, a technical tour-de-force that combines the 2.0-liter supercharged and turbocharged engine with a 65 kW electric motor powered by a lithium-ion battery pack whose capacity has been increased to 11.6 kWh for 2020. The hybrid powertrain offers a combined 400 horsepower and 400 lb. ft. of torque. All powertrains include an 8-speed automatic transmission.

Volvo Cars

Our test drive in a couple different XC90 variants, including a T8 Inscription trim that had an MSRP of more than $90,000, confirmed the good overall drivability of the model. The hybrid version of the SUV is also the performance version and thus it adopts an intelligent compromise between comfort and ultimate road-holding. It’s likely if you care about the highest levels of performance, you probably won’t pick a three-row SUV as your vehicle of choice.

Of course, the XC90 is absolutely stuffed with safety equipment.  Included on that list are standard Pilot Assist, Oncoming Lane Mitigation, BLIS with Steering Assist, and Cross Traffic Alert with Autobrake. At the same time, Volvo execs say they are a long way from autonomous vehicle operation.

We think the typical upscale American family will appreciate everything about the XC90 SUV — its contemporary exterior style, its upscale cabin and the 9-inch Sensus infotainment screen among the highlights. Certainly, if safety is on your mind, the Volvo SUV has to capture your attention, and you’ll also enjoy the involving driving experience.

The Volvo family has become an SUV family, and that matches up well with American tastes circa 2020.