Volvo, as everyone knows, is a Swedish brand. What many do not know is that it is owned by a Chinese company and that "Swedish" cars like the S90 are also made in China.
So, is it still a "Volvo"?
What It Is
The S90 is Volvo's largest and top-of-the-line luxury sedan.
Technically, it is Geely Motors' largest and top-of-the-line luxury sedan, as Geely, a Chinese car conglomerate, owns Volvo, and the S90 is made in Daqing, China. The cars are then shipped by rail to Europe for export to other countries — including Sweden.
But what's more important than who owns Volvo or where the S90 is made is the fact that it is the most affordable large luxury sedan you can buy right now.
Base price for the B6 Plus trim with both a turbocharger and a supercharger is $57,000, which is only a few thousand dollars more than BMW and Mercedes ask for their midsize luxury sedans, the 5 Series and E-Class. And even the most expensive version of the S90 — the $70,500 Recharge T8 Ultimate, which is also a plug-in hybrid — stickers for about $20,000 less than the least expensive versions of BMW and Mercedes' full-size sedans, the 7 Series and S-Class — both of which are only slightly larger.
What's New for 2023
The main change for the new model year is a thinning of the available trims to Plus and Ultimate, replacing the previously available Momentum, Inscription and R-Design trims.
What's Good
An almost-full-size luxury sedan that costs about the same as most rival brands' midsize luxury sedans.
Plug-in hybrid can go farther on battery power than any rival.
Standard turbo-supercharged powertrain is stronger than most midsize rivals' standard powertrains.
What's Not So Good
Very small trunk (13.5 cubic feet) even relative to midsize rivals' trunks.
Standard turbo-supercharged powertrain's mileage is mediocre (23 mpg city, 32 mpg highway).
Plug-in hybrid powertrain's price offsets the gas-saving advantages.
Under The Hood
The S90 is available with either of two interesting drivetrains.
Italics to reflect the fact that no one else offers a turbocharged and supercharged standard drivetrain. Or a plug-in hybrid drivetrain that can carry you almost 40 miles on battery power alone, giving you most of the real-world advantages of a purely electric car without any of the disadvantages.
First, the turbo-supercharged drivetrain.
These two power boosters — plural — bump up the output of the 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine to 295 horsepower and 310 foot-pounds of torque.
This gets you to 60 in about 6.4 seconds.
The S90's available plug-in hybrid system pairs the 2.0 engine with a 107-kilowatt-hour electric motor and 18.8-kilowatt-hour battery pack to produce a total of 455 horsepower and 523 foot-pounds of torque.
Both iterations of the 2.0 engine are paired up with an eight-speed automatic and standard all-wheel drive.
On The Road
The S90 has a very substantial feel. Like a heavy Rolex on your wrist, which isn't surprising given how heavy it is — some 4,200 pounds. This was once a hallmark of Volvos, which were made to be heavy so as to be among the safest-to-be-in vehicles, if you crashed one (or someone else crashed into you).
Of course, nowadays, all cars are "safe" to crash in.
But heaviness still has its place — an appropriate place in a big car such as this. You feel as if you got a lot for your money, and you literally did — about 500 pounds more of it. And while it keeps the car from being as quick as the lighter (and smaller) cars in its price range, it helps you feel as though you are driving something more substantial.
At The Curb
The S90 is 200.4 inches long, which is considerably longer than price-equivalent midsize luxury sedans like the BMW 5 Series (195.8 inches), Mercedes E350 (194.3 inches) and the Tesla S (197.7 inches). It isn't quite as long as a BMW 7 Series (212.2 inches) or a Mercedes S-Class (208.2 inches), but these are not price-equivalent. The Mercedes S sedan starts at $114,500. The BMW 7 starts at $95,700.
That's a lot for not much larger. And, coming from the other direction, the S90 is larger than most, for a lot less.
Back seat legroom in the Volvo — 40.4 inches — is substantially more than the 36.5 inches in the back of the BMW 5 sedan and the 36.2 inches in the backseat of the Mercedes E350.
The Tesla Model S is even worse in this respect, with just 35.5 inches of backseat legroom.
It's also only 197.7 inches long, too.
To get more backseat legroom than the Volvo offers, you'll need to move up to something like a BMW 7 or Benz S — and pay dearly for it.
The Rest
The main selling point here is size and value. You get a bigger/roomier car for the money, and you get more for your money, too.
Every S90 comes standard with four-zone climate control, a panorama glass roof, surround-view camera system, power folding rear seats and seat heaters for those in back, plus a heated steering wheel.
And because it's so affordable even so equipped, it makes opting for the equipment that's not standard equipment like the massaging seats much more financially feasible.
The Bottom Line
The saying goes that size doesn't matter.
But price — and value — surely do.
Eric's latest book, "Doomed: Good Cars Gone Wrong!" will be available soon. To find out more about Eric and read his past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.
View the Volvo S90 this week.
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