Good news, irony-loving hipsters: the Volvo wagon is back. Sure, you might not be able to afford it for 30 years. But it’s nice to know what you’ll be running into the ground in the future, right?
The V90 is the third Volvo in the company’s new 90 series, following the XC90 and S90, and is the latest one designed under the new Volvo since its purchase by Chinese carmaker Geely. Despite its corporate parent, though, the car was designed in Sweden — if you couldn’t tell by its sensibilities.
The latest and greatest Swedish wagon rides on Volvo’s new SPA (scalable platform architecture) vehicle chassis, which is powered by a family of new four-cylinder engines that Volvo spent $11 billion to develop. At the top of the V90’s power range is a 410-horsepower plug-in hybrid model called the T8.
Just look at that interior. At the heart of the modern but spare elegant interior is Volvo’s new SENSUS infotainment system, which has been designed to operate like a tablet with a swipe and pinch-to-zoom interface.
Granted, it’s a sight more technically complicated than the 1986 240 wagon, but it’s a lot safer, too. As Volvo puts it, the V90 offers “cutting-edge Pilot Assist semi-autonomous drive technology,” as well as large animal detection and run-off road mitigation and class-leading connectivity, including Apple CarPlay.
To get up close and personal with this beautiful wagon, though, you’ll have to make your way to Geneva, Switzerland, where the V90 is making its global debut at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show from March 3 to 13.