Volvo India has recently been on a roll in the recent past. Last year the company launched the swanky S90 sedan which we drove in Jodhpur. They followed that up by giving us taste of the Polestar performance division, launching the hot S60 Polestar that too at a delicious price. And now say hello to the Volvo V90 Cross Country. Its a little more than a luxury sedan and a little less than a luxury SUV. Volvo tells us that their Cross Country models have done well in India with the S60 Cross Country even outselling its standard sedan sibling. Estates haven’t really tasted success on our shores and Volvo will be aiming to carve a niche for itself creating an all new segment. Can the V90 Cross Country break the jinx? We drove it over some fantastic roads from Mangalore to Coorg and all we can say is that we were surprised.

Volvo V90 Cross Country Exterior

The V90 Cross Country is based on the V90, which is essentially the estate version of the S90 sedan. Just like the S90, it is based on Volvo’s Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) platform.  The P1800 ES inspired front grille has black concave slats with tiny chrome elements. The front bumper has rugged styling and features silver accents on the bottom. The design otherwise is pretty much like S90, which means you get  adaptive bending LED headlamps with the Thor DRLs along with a long bonnet.  There is cladding for the wheel arches and along the side of the body. The windshield is properly raked and you get the signature Volvo L shaped LED tail lamps. The roof spoiler looks nice and there is VOLVO lettering on the boot just below the windshield. The rear bumper gets a combo of black cladding and silver trims along with integrated twin exhausts. Note the Cross Country lettering in the rear bumper. The V90 gets 210 mm of ground clearance (60 mm more than the S90 sedan) that puts in right into SUV territory. And those 20 inch 10 spoke alloy wheels look out of this world. Easily the best alloy design we’ve seen in a long time. Volvo will also give you the option of 19 inch wheels. The specially developed Pirelli P Zero tyres compliment the wheels nicely. Pictures really don’t do justice to this machine. It has a beefy stance and is pretty intimidating too.

Contd…