Volvo XC90

Volvo XC90 Review

When it comes to luxury vehicles in India, three brands come to mind — Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi. While Volvo has been making some well-crafted, and handsome luxury cars, Indians don’t always recognise it as a luxury car brand, thanks to the connotation of Volvo with buses. Of the luxury cars it makes, the XC90 is Volvo’s priciest and largest offering in India, taking on the likes of well-established 7-seater rivals like the Audi Q7. The Volvo XC90, since its inception in 2015, has set benchmarks within the luxury SUV segment with its sleek design, Scandinavian elegance, and a comprehensive suite of features and safety systems. Over the years, it carved a niche among discerning buyers who valued its distinctiveness. However, the automotive landscape is ever-evolving, and after receiving minimal changes since launch almost a decade ago, the XC90’s appeal has started to fade. The recent introduction of a new mild-hybrid petrol engine with a minor facelift did breathe some life into it, and its huge price advantage over the likes of some 7-seater rivals like Mercedes-Benz GLS and BMW X7 also plays into its hands. Let’s see if that’s enough to keep the Volvo XC90 in the running as a practical luxury 7-seater.

Volvo XC90 Pros and Cons 

Volvo XC90 Exterior Design 

The Volvo XC90's recent facelift retained the vehicle's signature sophistication with minor refinements. The front grille is sharper, complemented by a redesigned bumper with new chrome accents, maintaining the XC90's dignified presence. The iconic “Thor’s hammer” LED headlights and strong bonnet lines stay, giving the XC90 a distinguishable identity. The side profile is updated with fresh 19-inch alloy wheels, albeit less visually striking than before, and the rear sees subtle bumper revisions. Despite the updates, the XC90’s exterior design has started to show its age, but it will still appeal to buyers who prefer elegance over radical and aggressive designs. 

Volvo XC90 Interiors 

The interior of the XC90 tells a similar story. It still gets old bits and pieces, and the design is not as good as its smaller sibling, the XC60, since the XC90 hit the market sooner. The AC vents for example get a rather basic design, as opposed to the intricately designed vents in the XC60. The dashboard does get some modern touches, including the 9-inch vertical touchscreen with integrated climate control, leaving only a handful of physical buttons on the dashboard, primarily for defoggers and changing audio tracks. The cabin is spacious too, and it gets space-saver seats with thin seat backs. This liberates a lot of legroom for the middle row, and the option to slide the middle row forward also adds practicality when travelling with more than five passengers. Thanks to its large size, even with all three rows up, boot space is a respectable 314 litres. Fold the third row down and you will have enough space to carry a week’s luggage for five passengers; fold the second row down as well, and you can use your XC90 to move houses.

Volvo XC90 Comfort 

The XC90's seating comfort is exemplary, particularly in the front two rows. The seating is firm, which provides great support over long distances. However, the third row has a lot of room for improvement. Not only is it tight for adults, since the middle row does not tumble, to access the third row you have a very narrow aperture to enter with the middle row slid and reclined all the way forward. 

The Volvo XC90 gets a sophisticated air suspension onboard, which allows you to customise the firmness/softness, and even the ride height. Using the touchscreen, you can easily raise the SUV on your off-road adventures, and lower it on long highway rides. The suspension though is still a tad firm even in the softest and lowest setting, allowing potholes and sharp bumps to filter through to the cabin. A plusher setup would’ve been more in line with the character of the XC90, and that’s something that even the XC60 struggles to cope with.

Volvo XC90 Performance and Handling

The XC90 gets a refined 2.0-litre, four-cylinder turbo-petrol mild-hybrid engine, delivering a compelling mix of power and refinement. While it may not match the outright power of some competitors, the integrated hybrid system ensures brisk acceleration and a lively driving experience, particularly in Dynamic mode. However, spirited drivers will find the 8-speed gearbox lacking responsiveness. Handling and ride quality — particularly at higher speeds — showcase the XC90's ability to deliver a confident driving experience, supported by sophisticated steering and suspension systems. And what comes across from the XC90 is that it's an SUV that prefers to be driven calmly.

Volvo XC90 Key Specifications

Volvo XC90 Safety Features

Volvo is the industry leader when it comes to safety standards and innovations, which is why it's no surprise that the XC90 is one of the safest cars in the world! Besides having a stable body shell that absorbs impacts better than most, the XC90 also gets seven airbags, which can inflate to specific levels depending on the impact. And if the impact doesn’t warrant airbags to be deployed, the car will only deploy the seat belt pre-tensioners. The XC90 also gets some Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) like lane keeping assist, adaptive cruise control, and a clever feature called pilot assist, which acts like a traffic jam assist, taking over from the driver in stop-start traffic. However, it is important to note that these systems are calibrated for European and American motorway traffic, and perhaps won’t work as well in our city traffic conditions. There’s also a host of other safety features including ESC, ABS, ISOFIX child seat mounts, a tyre pressure monitoring system, whiplash protection system, and more. Given the long list of safety features, it is no surprise that the XC90 bagged a 5-star crash rating from Euro NCAP, scoring a whopping 97% for adult occupant protection, and 87% for child occupant protection.

Volvo XC90 Technology and Infotainment

The XC90's infotainment system is centred around a 9-inch touchscreen unit, which gets Google apps built-in. Thanks to this, you don’t need to pair your smartphone with the car to run Google Maps, and connected tech also allows real-time traffic updates and app updates. You can also access the app store to download more apps, like Spotify. However, its complexity and the integration of air conditioning controls into the touchscreen may pose a challenge to some users. The system is paired with an extraordinary Bowers and Wilkins audio system, and the XC90 also gets other features like a wireless smartphone charger, heated, ventilated, massaging seats, air purifier, and more.

Is the Volvo XC90 for You?

The Volvo XC90 makes for a great luxury family car. It is spacious, practical, feature rich, luxurious, and has a 7-seater layout, making it ideal for medium and large families. Most importantly, it is one of the safest vehicles in our market; who wouldn’t want a vehicle with a 97% rating for adult crash protection for their families to travel in? 

Having said that, the XC90 does have a couple of weak links, which Volvo could have and should have addressed in the facelift. The 8-speed auto gearbox is sluggish to shift, and takes away from the driving experience unless you’re driving calmly. And should you drive calmly, you’ll realise that comfort levels in the XC90 also should’ve been better, especially on the suspension front. The interior quality is also not what you’d expect from a ₹1 cr+ car, and the safe and classy exterior design might not excite all buyers. In this budget, if a 7-seater layout is not a deal breaker for you, you’d perhaps be better off with something like the BMW X5, which outdoes the XC90 on almost all fronts. But for its cons, the Volvo still does have a good set of advantages, and it will continue to find buyers, albeit in a smaller number.