Volvo completed its concept-car trifecta at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show with the Concept Estate, a streamlined shooting brake that banishes all memory of the old V70.
The Concept Estate was meant to show off Volvo’s new styling theme and the Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) platform that will underpin most of the company’s upcoming models. However, the wagon itself isn’t slated for production.
Or is it? According to Autobild (via Motor Authority), Volvo is considering a high-end luxury wagon that would be based on the Concept Estate and wear V90 badges. While it’s unclear whether the V90 would retain the concept’s three-door shooting brake layout, it would sit above the V60 in the Volvo hierarchy. Unlike that more utilitarian wagon, the V90 would be a genuine luxury car.
With a couple of exceptions, luxury wagons are just about the only station wagons left in the United States. It’s not hard to picture well-off Volvo fans flocking to an upscale Swedish wagon, but the V90 may have a tough time competing with crossovers, including Volvo’s own XC90.
A redesigned XC90 based on the Concept XC Coupe is due later this year, and a production V90 would probably be almost the same mechanically, except lower to the ground.
If all goes well, Volvo would reportedly expand the range to include an S90 sedan, and possibly even a C90 coupe based on the fantastic Concept Coupe from the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show.
In the past, Volvo has shied away from more-expensive luxury cars, so the V90 and its potential variants would mark a change of strategy for the company. The Swedish firm has always been what analysts like to call a “premium” brand, rather than a full luxury brand, but perhaps that will change.
