Volvo launches the next stage of it's 90 Series cars, the V90 Cross Country.

Volvo Cars, the premium car maker, has unveiled the eagerly awaited V90 Cross Country, completing its 90 series line-up.

Since the introduction of the first Cross Country almost 20 years ago, Volvo Cars has become synonymous with the rugged all-road, all-weather product category, with a growing stable of Cross Country models.

Volvo Cars’ Cross Country models fulfil an increasingly important part of the Swedish brand’s product portfolio as luxury car buyers seek out a more experienced-based lifestyle that occasionally takes them off the beaten track.

“The V90 Cross Country takes the elegance of the V90 and transforms it into an all-road car that delivers safety, comfort and performance in a capable and adventurous package,” said Håkan Samuelsson, President & CEO, Volvo Car Group.

With some of the harshest winters on the planet and more than 77 per cent of the country covered in forest and lakes, Sweden is the natural place to develop and test extreme durability and all-weather-capable cars. This hard-won expertise represents a large part of Volvo Cars’ heritage, reflected in the company’s Cross Country model line-up.

“Our cars are well known for their safety, strength and durability. With All-Wheel Drive, increased ride height and a chassis optimised for comfort and control in all weather and road conditions, the new V90 Cross Country takes our versatile V90 estate and adds the heart of an explorer,” said Dr Peter Mertens, Senior Vice President Research & Development at Volvo Cars.

With Volvo Cars’ Scalable Product Architecture providing the underpinnings, the V90 Cross Country has undergone rigorous testing to ensure that it can survive the extremes in which it will ultimately find itself.

From secret testing facilities in the frozen north of Sweden, where temperatures regularly hit -40 degrees centigrade, to the searing desert heat of Arizona, where Volvo Cars performs its high-temperature testing program, the V90 Cross Country has been built to last.

With a design that clearly stands out from the crowd, the V90 Cross Country’s rugged character belies a sumptuous interior that delivers a level of luxury uncommon in the segment, combining all the benefits of the connectivity and entertainment features that were launched with the new S90 and V90, including a high-end sound system by Bowers & Wilkins.

The V90 Cross Country’s exterior design cues communicate the powerful and dynamic capability that the car exemplifies, while offering the flexibility to choose from both rugged and elegant expressions.

“Designing a Volvo Cross Country is not a styling exercise, a plastic job. It is based on honest capability. The Volvo V90 Cross Country brings a surprising and intriguing combination of a strong, powerful exterior and a luxurious, Scandinavian interior. It will continue the genuine tradition of the Volvo Cross Country with a new recipe: the blend of powerful off-road capability in a most elegant, sophisticated, tailored wagon suit,” said Thomas Ingenlath, Senior Vice President Design at Volvo Cars.

The new V90 Cross Country takes this well-established segment to a new level of comfort-inspired capability. Production of the car is set to start this autumn at Volvo Cars’ Torslanda plant in Sweden.

UK prices will be announced later this year, and first deliveries are expected in Q1 2017.

Volvo has had the first V90 roll off the production lines and is heading towards it's new owner.

Volvo Cars, the premium car maker, started production of the new V90 premium estate at its manufacturing plant in Torslanda, Sweden this week.

The first customer-bound V90 rolled off the production line only weeks after the first S90 premium sedan was built. This means all new models in the top-of-the-line 90 series, based on Volvo’s in-house developed modular vehicle architecture SPA, are now being produced in Sweden.

The SPA-related investments in Sweden have had positive effects on employment at the company. Volvo has almost doubled its staff numbers at the Torslanda plant in the last two years, to a current total of around 6,300 employees. The company has also hired approximately one thousand engineers over that period, and continues to recruit in its R&D department.

Furthermore, so-called multiplier effects have created numerous new jobs at suppliers to the company and other businesses in the region, providing a boost to the automotive manufacturing cluster in Gothenburg and the wider economy in Western Sweden.

“Taking the new V90 into production is an important milestone for Volvo,” said Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief executive. “We have invested heavily in preparing the Torslanda plant for building SPA vehicles and it is encouraging to see the positive response to the new 90 cars. We are going from strength to strength, as our transformation plan continues to bear fruit.”

The three new 90 series cars are part of a USD 11 billion transformation program launched by Volvo in 2010. Over the next three years, Volvo will revamp its entire car range. The introduction of the new cars have resulted in significant sales and profitability growth at Volvo.

Helped by the new XC90, Volvo Cars in 2015 sold over 500,000 cars for the first time in the company’s 89-year history. Annual operating profit trebled to SEK 6.6bn, with a profit margin of 4 per cent.

For 2016, Volvo expects another record year in terms of sales, as the new S90 and V90 arrive in dealerships around the globe and XC90 has its first full year of production. In the first five months of 2016, Volvo Cars posted a 10.4 per cent increase in global sales, with growth in all major regions.

Full-year revenue and operating income are also expected to improve further.

“While the new XC90, S90 and V90 have helped us rejuvenate the brand, Volvo’s transformation is far from complete,” said Mr Samuelsson. “Three years from now, the XC90 will be the oldest car on the showroom floor. In other words: the new 90 series are only the start of the new Volvo.”

Last month, Volvo officially launched its global small car strategy by revealing two concept cars based on its new Compact Modular Architecture (CMA). Specially created for smaller cars, CMA will underpin the next generation of Volvo’s 40 series cars. The first new car on CMA is expected to be launched in 2017. The next-generation cars in Volvo’s 60 series will be built on SPA.

Volvo Cars & Zlatan Ibrahimović join forces to advertise the V90 Premium Estate car during this year's Euro football.

Volvo Cars is teaming up with footballing icon Zlatan Ibrahimović for the European launch campaign of the V90 premium estate in advance of the European Championships football tournament. The campaign is now live on social media and digital platforms, and will be followed by TV.

The campaign shows the former Paris Saint-Germain striker, a long-time Volvo driver and fan, looking back at his rise from humble beginnings in one of Sweden's toughest neighbourhoods in Malmö to international sporting stardom.

Zlatan, who is currently preparing for the European Championships, feels a close affinity with the Swedish car brand.

"I've seen the new cars, I've driven and tested them, and I think they're fantastic. Just like me, Volvo have gone their own way and dared to think differently," said Zlatan Ibrahimović.

"The campaign is a celebration of the independent mind, of the power that lies in the ability to think differently. There are many similarities between Zlatan's and Volvo's journeys. We haven't got to where we are now by doing the same as everyone else," said Anders Gustafsson, Senior Vice President, Europe, Middle East and Africa at Volvo Car Group.

Building on Volvo Cars' indisputable heritage in the estate segment, the new V90 takes the premium estate a clear step forward in terms of aesthetics, materials and finish, while living up to the ultimately practical nature of any true estate. The Volvo V90 boasts a high level of standard equipment, ranging from Large Animal Detection to the second-generation of Pilot Assist, a semi-autonomous drive feature.

The V90 campaign is now live on UK social media, digital and video on demand platforms, and will be followed by TV spots on June 17th and 22nd. It features a new and unique score by Hans Zimmer, the world-renowned and Academy Award-winning composer behind the scores of films such as Gladiator, Pirates of the Caribbean, Inception and Interstellar.

"I've always been a fan of Swedish icons such as Abba and Zlatan, so doing this project with Volvo Cars and Zlatan made me experience the best of Sweden. Working together has been truly rewarding," said Hans Zimmer.