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Volvo XC90 makes lasting impression

American experts hail model as one of the most important cars of the past 10 years.
Posted on 22 January, 2020
Volvo XC90 makes lasting impression

The team behind the Volvo XC90 have plenty to cheer after it was named by experts among the Cars of the Decade and given a major makeover for 2020.

Editors at Autotrader USA selected the luxury SUV along with 14 other vehicles that they felt had made the most impact on the automotive market over the past 10 years.

The XC90, which debuted in the 2015 model year, was described by the third-party car listings brand as “the perfect example of a modern vehicle primed for the future”. 

Other vehicles on the Cars of the Decade list were the Tesla Model S, Nissan Leaf, Toyota Prius, Acura NSX, Mazda Miata, Toyota RAV4, Genesis, Kia Telluride, Ford Mustang, Ford F-150 Raptor, Porsche Macan, Chrysler Pacifica, Jeep Gladiator and Dodge Hellcats.

“The Volvo XC90 is one of the best cars of the decade because it’s a spectacular luxury SUV that kicked off a long line of fresh new vehicles forever changing the course of the Volvo brand,” says Brian Moody, executive editor for Autotrader.

“The XC90 effectively elevates the entire brand to a true luxury position, it’s the full embodiment of all that Volvo can do right. The XC90 is a perfect example of how design restraint actually adds to the allure of a given vehicle. Both inside and out, the Volvo XC90 is tasteful and luxurious.”

Volvo’s most popular vehicle in the United States, the XC90 has been refreshed for 2020 and its petrol-powered, T6 turbo and supercharged engine provides 246kW and the D5 twin-turbocharged diesel engine delivers 173kW. The T8 twin engine plug-in hybrid offers a combined 311kW in R-Design guise.

For 2020, the XC90 features a new concave front grille design, restyled front and rear bumpers, new Gloss Black R-Design theme and all-new wheel designs.
Standard equipment added includes a 12.3-inch digital driver display, integrated roof rails, integrated tailpipes,19-inch wheels, road sign information and increased battery size (11.6 kwh) on T8 models.

New colours for the model are thunder grey metallic, pebble grey metallic and birch light metallic.