Volvo S90 to return

In January Volvo will unveil its new big saloon at the Detroit motor show. It’s a classic four-door saloon, but taken to the next level. Given that Volvo are owned by the Chinese, and the Chinese like luxury saloons, perhaps this isn’t a huge surprise.

Wherever it’s going, it’s a handsome thing that is aiming to tick a lot of boxes including safety (it’s a Volvo), luxury and the promise of driving fun (which is more of a surprise as it’s a Volvo).

The safety kit will include ‘large animal detection’ software, which in Sweden would make a lot of sense given the number of elk that wander out in front of you at night. We don’t yet know if it will detect your rather corpulent cat wandering out in front of the S90.

The interior looks extremely sleek, using the large central touchscreen as found in the XC90, and then surrounding that with acres of rather nice wood and leather. It looks a very pleasant and premium place to spend some hours.

It isn’t compromised, as so many vehicles are now, by trying to be anything other than what it is, a saloon. There are no dials and menus for notional off-road ability, there are no complex seating arrangements that have to tumble in sequence to enlarge the estate space, it’s a four-door saloon with a boot at the back.

Up front there will be an initial range of four engines, two diesels, one petrol and one hybrid (D4 and D5, T6 and T8 respectively). There will be manual or auto options, with power going from 190bhp (D4) to 320bhp (T6/T8).

Along with this comes a claim by Volvo that the S90 will deliver ‘a sense of precision, engaging control and comfort’ and will be a ‘big stride forward’ in its driving dynamics.

We’ll have to wait and see how these claims are delivered. The elk population must be eagerly awaiting the launch.