Volvo’s well-engineered XC90 offers more value

The XC90 sold 86,000 units in 2005, making it Sweden’s most valuable export product.

Volvo may have jumped into the luxury SUV fray rather late, but it cleverly used its expertise in a category closely related to SUVs: wagons. Volvo wagons had long maintained the advantages of an SUV, primarily passenger space and cargo-carrying capacity. It even had wagons with higher ground clearance, under its XC or Cross Country line. When Volvo produced its first full-fledged SUV, the XC90, in 2002, it featured a well-thought out counterpoint to the usual truck-based, clumsy SUVS then prevalent.

Chief among the XC90’s innovations were in the area of safety, as befits the parent company. The XC90 features Roll Stability Control, which uses sensors and the traction control system to help reduce the risk of vehicle rollover. This is particularly important in an SUV, with its higher center of gravity. The passive safety features include inflatable side curtains for all three rows of seats, and pretensioners that instantly cinch tight for all seats.

So confident was Volvo with the XC90’s safety credentials that it conducted a rollover test with the XC90 in front of the world press, at the company’s state-of-the-art Safety Center in Gothenburg, Sweden.

It also features a lower cross-member in the front that activates an oncoming car’s safety systems in a collision. Some SUVs during this time had the tendency to ride over a passenger car’s front during a collision, with serious deterioration in safety; not so the XC90.

Another unique touch in the XC90 is its integrated child booster seat in the second row. This device allows the booster to be extended from the bench seat when needed, providing a child with the appropriate seat height and position to benefit from the seat belt. It then folds away when not in use—no more wrestling with bulky child seats.

THE NEW Volvo is reported to have class-leading fuel economy.

The second and third row of seats fold flat to create a flat load floor behind the front seats, with a massive 2400 liter capacity. The third row, in particular, is easy to fold into the floor, converting the XC90 from a five-seater wagon with plenty of luggage space to a seven-seater.

Even with standard all-wheel drive, the Volvo is reported to have class-leading fuel economy. It comes with either a powerful 3.2-liter inline-six or a torquey turbodiesel engine.

A unique feature of the XC90 is its integrated child booster seat in the second row.

In short, all the negatives of SUVs were done away with, while preserving all of the advantages. The XC90 has gone on to receive positive acclaim from various media outfits. It also sold a healthy 86,000 units in 2005, making it Sweden’s most valuable export product.

Volvo has introduced an upgraded version of the XC90, and it still remains one of the company’s bestsellers. As the all-new XC90 is around the corner, Volvo Makati (2272 Don Chino Roces Ave.) and Volvo Cebu (A.S. Fortuna Street, Banilad, Mandaue City, Cebu) are offering special deals with up to 20 percent savings until Dec. 25, 2011.