Volvo Plays It Safe with Unveiled S90 Sedan

DETROIT – Volvo is playing it safe – as in touted safety – with the new ’17 S90 premium sedan introduced here at the North American International Auto Show.

OK, the Swedish brand also points to the car’s sleek looks and luxury interior accruements. “It is classy and cool,” head designer Thomas Ingenlath says of the new flagship that succeeds the S80.

But Volvo at the debut particularly talks up the safety aspects of the S90. They say the vehicle is semi-autonomous and helps pave the way for a fully autonomous Volvo in four years.

“No one should be killed or seriously injured in a Volvo by 2020,” says Volvo CEO and President Hakan Samuelsson.

The S90 launches with IntelliSafe Assist as standard. Features include adaptive cruise control, distance alert, technology that detects and brakes for large animals in the roadway and an advanced semi-autonomous drive feature, Pilot Assist.

Pilot Assist gives steering input to keep the car aligned within lane markings up to speeds of about 80 mph (130 km/h) and no longer needs to follow another car.

Pilot Assist represents another step towards full autonomous driving, Samuelsson says.

“Autonomous-driving technology is very exciting, and it will improve the attractiveness of cars, especially with younger people.” he tells journalists on the sidelines of the S90 unveiling. “Time in a car can be spent more productively than supervising a car.”

He adds: “2020 is our vision for a car that has an advanced auto-pilot function so you get out of this boring situation of driving in congested traffic.”

Volvo is making its presence known in America to the point that Samuelsson rather liberally refers to the Chinese-owned Swedish brand as becoming a “domestic” U.S. automaker.

Cited examples of that include the construction of Volvo’s first U.S. plant in South Carolina as well as a partnership with two American technology firms. 

“We want to be domestic,” he tells reporters. He also mentions that to show attendee U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-DE), who recalls his state once was home to a major General Motors plant.  

“We want to be industrially present in the U.S.,” Samuelsson says. “That is why we are building a plant here. It is not just selling cars, not just producing cars, but also developing cars with partners in the U.S.”

Volvo is coming off a good year after some not-so-hot ones. In 2015, it sold a record 500,000 units globally and 70,000 in the U.S., a 20% increase.

The brand’s XC90 cross-utility vehicle starts off 2016 with a bang, winning the North American Truck/Utility of the Year award. The announcement for that comes at the Motor City auto show.

Like the XC90, the S90 is powered by a 2L 4-cyl. turbo. A plug-in hybrid powertrain is optional.

Debuting the S90 in Detroit demonstrates Volvo’s commitment to the U.S. market, Samuelsson says. He speaks at the show with WardsAuto about the S90 and its prospects in the marketplace.   

WardsAuto: Will soft sedan sales in the U.S. impede Volvo’s growth in that segment?

Samuelsson: Not necessarily because we are really entering this car into the premium sedan segment. We want to be on the shopping list of premium customers.

We’ve taken two big steps, first with the cross-over XC90 and now with the S90. Later this year, the V90 (wagon) will be introduced. In the next four years everything we sell will basically be renewed and in the new (SPA) architecture.

WardsAuto: Are you pitching S90 safety or styling?

Samuelsson: Absolutely, safety is part of our heritage. It would be unwise not to build on that. It is definitely not boring. Safety is going to come back into the focus with autonomous driving. It will be a very exciting area, and we will be a part of that.

But we now are also profiling Volvo as a design brand. Volvos should also look great. And we want to return to our roots and heritage. We are a Scandinavian car company so of course our cars should look like Scandinavian-designed cars. We are demonstrating that with this new car.

Sedans are very important for the U.S. For first time, in many years, we can offer to the sedan customers. It is a major step forward. And it’s very important for growth. We want to regain a solid position in this market. We had been strong and now we are on our way back.

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