Good Morning Warren and Friends,
I’m in Malaga Spain, birthplace of Pablo Picasso, today driving the all-new Volvo S90 and V90. The S90 sedan will come out next year, the V90 station wagon sometime later than that.
There are two drivetrains coming to the United States;
T5 In-line 4-cyl. Front-Wheel drive automatic 250 hp and 258 torque at 1500 (0-60 in 6.5 seconds) turbocharged 8-speed automatic gearbox
T6 In-line 4-cyl. All-Wheel drive automatic 316 hp and 295 torque at 2200 (0-60 in 5.7 seconds) turbocharged and supercharged 8-speed automatic gearbox
2017 Volvo S90 T5 MOMENTUM front-wheel drive $46,950
2017 Volvo S90 T5 INSCRIPTION front-wheel drive $50,450 (tops out around $61,705)
2017 Volvo S90 T6 MOMENTUM all-wheel drive $52,950
2017 Volvo S90 T6 INSCRIPTION all-wheel drive $56,250 (tops out around $67,505)
Destination Charge $995
It’s been six years since China purchased Volvo. They are in the midst of product emergence. You know about the Volvo XC 90. A couple of weeks ago I told you about the announcement of the 40-Series, a compact crossover, and sedan that will come out in a couple of years. This week Volvo allowed us to test drive the 90-Series sedan and station wagon, S90 and V90. The new 2017 S90 will be coming to dealers in July and the new V90 sometime next year.
Turning circle, (curb to curb) 37.4 ft. fwd/38.7 ft AWD
Uses Premium gasoline
Key Competitors:
Audi A6
MB E-Class
BMW 5 Series
Lexus GS
Acura RLX
Infiniti Q70
Volvo says they expect 30% leasing on the XC 90, 70-80% leasing for S90
Volvo will launch a 3-cylinder engine soon – it will launch with the 40-series CMA platform. Eventually, it will find its way onto the S60 and if in the longer term a 90-series happens it will be with electrification.
I asked Peter Mertens, Senior Vice President, Research and Development, Volvo about the announcement that the National Highway Traffic Safety (NTHSA) Administrator Mark Rosekind made, saying that the US needs to be more nimble in its legislation for self-driving cars and that NHTSA will have something in July about the regulatory climate. Fifteen states already have proposals for laws surrounding autonomous vehicles.
Mertens said that “this NHTSA homologation helps a lot if we don’t have a patchwork of different legislative. Patchwork is killing us. If we have one, that would work for us, and we would appreciate that.”
Let’s chat about cars.
