Prim and Proper

The executive luxury segment isn’t a new place for Volvo, but its approach makes the S90 stand out from its established rivals.

- Rohit Paradkar

When the photos of the S90 first surfaced on the Internet, I was about to take off on a flight. So apart from a few pictures that I could download before going offline, I didn’t have access to any other information about the car. Therefore, I also had no hint that it was to replace the ageing S80 sedan. The ‘90’ in the badging told me that it was the new flagship sedan for the brand, and it seemed like it would be slotted above or at least on par with the XC90. After all, it wore such a beautiful design draped on a lengthy saloon bodywork.

I had discussed Volvo’s new design language with some experts and designers from other brands when we all witnessed the XC90 at the Paris Motor Show in 2014. The beautiful XC coupe concept had been put into production, virtually unchanged. The ‘Thor’s Hammer’ headlights looked great, and the clean minimalist lines were a bold statement in today’s age of flame surfacing and radical fluidic curves. While all of us appreciated this new direction at Volvo, most of us hoped it doesn’t end up joining the same path taken by Mercedes Benz, Audi, BMW or Jaguar - where every member of their model line has such a strong familial resemblance that the entire portfolio ends up looking the same, save for the different body styles. The headlights on the S90 immediately reminded me of that concern.