Volvo V90 vs Volvo XC90

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 first-generation Volvo XC90 remained on sale for 12 years in Australia before being replaced by the handsome second-gen version that recently clocked up a decade of sales.

There’s a reason for the longevity. People love the Volvo XC90. It is a reliable seven-seat family-friendly SUV with a premium bent. You’ll spot loads of these at fancy private school drop off.

Volvo has extended the life of the second-gen XC90 with a significant late-life update. It adopts some features from its stablemate, the similarly sized and positioned EX90 electric SUV.

It doesn’t get a fully-electric powertrain but you have the choice of a mild-hybrid grade that acts as the range opener and the well-equipped T8 Plug-In Hybrid I’m testing.

Interestingly, a number of this car’s rivals have had their lives extended, too. As many carmakers pour billions into EVs, they’ve taken to delivering major updates to older internal combustion platforms rather than developing all-new underpinnings. The Audi Q7 and BMW X5 are other examples of this.

For the update, Volvo has ushered in a front-end design refresh, a fresh take on the interior, new multimedia and safety tech, a light tweak to suspension and new colours and wheels.

But is this enough to keep premium SUV buyers interested? Let’s find out…