Volvo XC90 News

Volvo's backflip on its plan to only sell electric cars in Australia by 2026 won’t be accompanied by a new target date.Despite the carmaker believing it’s the right thing to do, it says Aussie buyers aren’t ready to go EV only.Speaking to CarsGuide at a brand event, Volvo Australia Managing Director Stephen Connor explained the brand’s decision to step back from its 2026 commitment.“We’re still committed to a fully electric strategy,” he said. “What we identified in this journey is that it can’t be a switch on and switch off kind of view.“Why? Because infrastructure isn’t ready for it, consumers are also not ready for it.“What does the consumer want as opposed to what we want? We’re still committed to being climate neutral by 2040, so those milestones are still there but it may take us a little longer to be fully electrified."Connor detailed how Volvo will eventually reach its goal in Australia.“Every new model that we bring out is fully electric from now onwards. But that doesn’t stop us from refreshing our current line-up, because that’s what the consumer is telling us they really need.“I’d love to tell you today we’ll be there by 2027 or 2028, but it’s not a race, and we can get there gradually and when it suits consumers.“We could have forced it through, no doubt. We’ve got the product to do it, but is it necessarily the right thing for the brand today? Probably not.“It’s the right thing to do, but the world, I think, has shifted so much in the last three-to-four years.”Volvo wants to continue to record solid sales numbers of its popular combustion cars, which it now intends to keep updating. According to Connor, the XC40, XC60, and XC90 SUVs are “big volume cars” that are “selling really well in the marketplace".He confirmed the mid-size EX60, arriving in 2026, will mark Volvo's next step on its electrification journey, adding that the brand may re-assess its progress on electrification at that point as its range of core vehicles will have electric versions.“As soon as that arrives we can sit back and go ‘Okay, what’s the product cycle?’ Then we can redefine whether it’s 2028, 2029, or 2030,” he explained.How does Volvo know its consumers aren’t ready? Connor highlighted the growth in plug-in hybrid sales, as well as feedback at a corporate and dealer level that “not everyone wants to go straight from a petrol or mild hybrid to a fully electric car".“Who would have thought we’d be here talking about plug-in hybrids as the next big thing?“We could have been egotistical and pushed it through, but that’s not Volvo and it’s not who we are.”He said the growth of PHEVs in particular came as a bit of a surprise, given the brand has offered them for some time. However, it seems the shift to longer electric driving range has been a turning point for buyers.“What’s actually changed as part of that surprise is that when we first launched PHEVs the range was probably like 35 to 40km in the real world, now the average range of most PHEVs is more like 70 and then the next generation coming through would be up to 100 to 150km."So what’s really changed is the technology evolving so quickly. All of a sudden, it really makes sense.”There is also an element of what Volvo’s Gothenburg, Sweden head office makes available to the Australian division, which weighs into the equation.“When we made that original announcement, the weren’t going to be made available.” he said.“But because we’re nimble and agile, head office decided to re-invest back into the two staple cars that we’d loved and known, so that also gave us the ability to redefine what we want to do. “That decision though is made at a local level. If we don’t want XC90, we don’t have to take it, but because they refreshed it, we went ‘Yeah, it’s a great car, why wouldn’t we take it.’”In addition, he added HQ offering updated versions of the brand’s core combustion range came at the perfect time, as the scale-up of the EX90 - which the brand had hoped would be a volume seller immediately - was impacted globally by software-related delays and the announcement of an upgraded 800-volt version which will allow faster charging than the current 400-volt version.Volvo sales are down 21 per cent year-on-year in Australia to the end of September, although the company has managed a significant percentage of its yearly volume in just the last month as deliveries start of updated and new models.Next for the brand will be the arrival of the ES90 electric sedan, with the EX60 mid-sizer arriving in 2026.

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Volvo has updated its seven-seat XC90 SUV with a suite of design and tech upgrades as it transitions from a three- to a two-variant line-up.On sale in Australia now, the line-up kicks off at $104,990 before on-road costs for the entry-grade Ultra B5 Bright, which is an increase of $5050 on last year’s prices.The Ultra B6 Bright is gone as a mid-range option, with the top-spec Ultra T8 Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV) now priced at $130,990 before on-road costs, an increase of $2600.In exchange for the price hikes, the XC90 sports a new look for 2025, emphasised by a new diagonally-striped grille, sharper LED headlight signatures, new front and rear bumpers, side skirts and alloy wheel designs.Inside, both variants gain a larger, higher resolution 11.2-inch central touchscreen with over-the-air software update capabilities.Volvo has also delivered additional storage space in the centre console, including an extra cupholder, thanks to a redesigned dashboard that is more horizontal than before. It comes clad in new-look decorative panels made from recycled materials.No changes have been made to the base Ultra B5 Bright’s 2.0-litre turbo-petrol in-line four-cylinder engine, which comes paired to a 48-volt mild-hybrid system that delivers 183kW/350Nm to all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission.Similarly, no changes have been made to the Ultra T8’s PHEV setup, which utilises the same petrol engine paired to a 107kW/309Nm electric motor and a 19kWh battery pack for total outputs of 340kW/709Nm.Total electric range is claimed at up to 77km, while fuel economy is claimed at 1.8L/100km, a fraction of the Ultra B5 Bright’s claimed 8.2L/100km.As standard, the Ultra B5 Bright carries new 21-inch multi-spoke Black Diamond-cut alloy wheels, keyless entry with a power tailgate, a 12.0-inch digital driver’s display, wireless charging, powered front seats with heating, cooling and memory functions, as well as a surround-view camera.The Ultra T8 PHEV adds new, larger 22-inch wheels, a panoramic sunroof, a Bowers & Wilkins High Fidelity speaker system, active air suspension, tinted rear windows, roof rails in gloss black, fully-coloured sills and bumpers, and black rear-view mirror covers.Standard safety features on both models includes adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, lane centring, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic assist, park assist, hill-start assist, hill-descent control, rain-sensing wipers, and a head-up display.Volvo has sold 209 examples of the XC90 to April this year, a decline of 29.9 per cent compared to the same period last year. It remains outpaced by the BMW X5 (1103), Lexus RX (583) and the Volkswagen Touareg (330).

Volvo has breathed new life into the ageing XC90 large SUV with a serious makeover to help it keep pace with its rivals.The seven-seat premium family-hauler has been on the market since 2015, with a number of updates along the way, but this upgrade will ensure the XC90 will be with us for a while yet.Australian launch timing is unclear, but Volvo is also in the process of launching the EX90 - an electric sibling to the XC90. The EV will land in Australia in April.The refreshed XC90 will, however, be electrified. The main powertrain variant confirmed is the plug-in hybrid T8, but 48-volt mild hybrid B5 and B6 grades will continue as well. The Australian 2025 XC90 line-up is yet to be outlined.The updated PHEV has an electric driving range of 70km on the WLTP cycle, and according to Volvo has a combined petrol-electric range of more than 800km.Volvo has not provided any more detail about the powertrain, so it’s unclear if it will have the same 288kW/640Nm outputs as the current model. It will be all-wheel drive.Volvo Australia has previously committed to becoming an EV-only brand by 2026 - much earlier than Vovo’s global target of 2030.However, the Chinese-owned Swedish brand is still selling plenty of non-electric models so the XC90 update makes sense. This will appeal to family buyers that aren’t quite ready to commit to a fully electric model.Volvo said in the XC90 press release the model mix is appropriate for right now, but suggested some markets are taking longer to embrace EVs.“This balance between fully electric and plug-in hybrids is the right portfolio for the market of today, as the premium fully electric market is still developing in several key markets. Plug-ins remain critical to our sales and profit growth plans over the coming years.”Whether this means Volvo Australia will include PHEVs as part of its plan to be electric only is unclear for now.The new 2025 XC90 ushers in a fresh front-end design, incorporating a modern take on the 'Thor's Hammer' LED headlights, and a new bonnet and grille with an updated diagonal logo spread across the car's face, giving it a sharper, smoother and more up-to-date look.Volvo hasn't messed with the signature LED tail-lights, aside from making them a little darker. Inside the XC90 gets a refreshed cabin and adopts the user experience from the EX90 and its smaller EX30 stablemate.It gains a larger 11.2-inch central touchscreen with higher resolution and Volvo says this “improves the user experience and opens up a world of new features, apps and of course regular over-the-air software updates”.In fact, Volvo says it will roll out this updated UX via a free over-the-air software update for any existing models that have Google built-in. That could be up to 2.5 million customers on cars built as early as 2020.Other interior tweaks include more practical storage spaces, particularly in the centre console, a horizontal dash design, restyled air vents and ‘premium’ recycled materials for the dash panels and trim.Under the skin, Volvo has made changes to the suspension setup to help improve ride quality. An optional air suspension is available with adjustable ride height.Local pricing hasn’t been confirmed but the current XC90 range runs from $100,990 before on-road costs for the B5 Bright, to $128,990 for the T8 PHEV.The all-electric seven-seat EX90 is expected to be priced north of $130,000 when it lands next year. The XC90 rides on Volvo’s SPA architecture, while the EX90 uses the SPA2 platform, shared with the incoming Polestar 3 SUV.The XC90 will continue to compete against the likes of the Lexus RX, BMW X5, Audi Q7, Mercedes-Benz GLE, Genesis GV80 and Mazda CX-90.The current XC90 landed in 2015, replacing the first-gen model that went on sale in 2006 becoming a global hit for Volvo.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you will have noticed a sharp increase in the number of electric cars on the roads of Australia in 2023. Sales are up nearly 200 per cent and more than 80,000 new examples were sold in the first 11 months of the year (almost as many as hybrid vehicles).

Volvo Car Australia is on-track for another record year in 2023, as sales soar past 8000-units to the end of August and could top 12,000 by year’s end.

Volvo XC40 is now over 50 per cent electric as a share of sales, seemingly vindicating the brand's position that its customers are ready to go fully EV by 2026.

Pencilled in for a late 2023 launch, there’s still plenty left to reveal – including the all-important pricing info – but a clearer picture of what Kia’s anticipated circa-$100,000-plus EV SUV alternative to an BMW X7, Mazda CX-90 and Volvo XC90 is emerging.

Pricing is up across the range for most of Volvo’s new car offerings for 2023, with the adjustment leaving some models thousands of dollars more expensive.