Designed to replace the aging S80, the S90 will take the form of a large four-door sedan whose overall design will be inspired by the recently-introduced second-generation XC90. The S90 will be decidedly more upscale than the S80, and it will likely spawn a long-wheelbase model designed primarily for buyers in China. However, Volvo has hinted the stretched S90 L could be offered in the United States and in select markets on the Old Continent if there is enough demand from buyers.
The S90 will ride on an evolution of the modular Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) platform that underpins the 2015 XC90, and the two cars will share the bulk of their mechanical components. Base and mid-range versions of the upcoming sedan will be offered with a wide array of gasoline- and diesel-burning four-cylinder engines sourced from Volvo’s Drive-E family, while the range-topping model will pack an efficient gasoline-electric plug-in hybrid drivetrain. An eight-speed automatic transmission will come standard all across the board.
“We will never have V12 or V8 engines. I think Mercedes will not see this as a S-Class competitor,” explained Samuelsson in an interview with Australian magazine Motoring. Another executive revealed to the same source that the S90 is being developed to fight head-to-head against the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and the BMW 5-Series.
The Volvo S90 is scheduled to go on sale late next year, meaning it could be presented to the public at next year’s edition of the Frankfurt Motor Show. Additional information about the company’s new sedan will emerge over the coming months.
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