Volvo V90 vs Audi A6

What's the difference?

Volvo has been riding a massive wave of success in the Australian new car market, recording (at the time of writing) 20 consecutive months of year-on-year sales growth. An even more impressive achievement given the overall market has been heading in the opposite direction.

Any worm dunker worth their salt will tell you to fish where the fish are, and Volvo has embraced the world's SUV fascination, with the XC40, XC60, and XC90 offering charismatic design and intelligent engineering across three SUV size categories.

But, there's something about Volvo and wagons (and Golden Retrievers). For more than 60 years wagons have been part of the Swedish brand's DNA, and the latest expression is the V90 Cross Country.

In other markets the car is sold in 'civilian' V90 guise. That is, a front-wheel drive only version of the full-size S90 sedan (also not sold here). But we cop the V90 Cross Country, a higher riding, all-wheel drive, five-seater.

Could its more car-like drive characteristics tempt you away from the SUV pack?

The Subaru Outback has a lot to answer for. Way back in 1994 the Japanese brand created the high-riding wagon scene - and while the idea never really took off with most mainstream makers, European luxury brands seemingly loved the idea of a rugged estate. It’s another niche to fill, after all.

This led to the Volvo V70 Cross Country in 1997, and Audi followed suit with the A6-based Allroad quattro back in 1999. 

Other luxury brands have entered the fray since then, and obviously the market has proliferated with SUVs… but they’re not the same as a high-riding station wagon.

There has been evolution in the Audi Allroad line-up over time: in 2015 the company added the smaller A4 Allroad, while the original larger A6-based Allroad wagon continues to cop the rough-and-tumble treatment, as it has for decades now.

So, since the all-new Audi A6 Allroad has just arrived in Australia, we thought we’d see what it’s like. And perhaps more pertinently, maybe we’ll be able to answer the question that many of you probably have: Should you buy a high-riding wagon? Or is it smarter to just buy an SUV?