Volvo’s most luxurious new car will be made in China and oddly it’s a three-seater.
It’s the Volvo S90 ‘Excellence,’ which is specifically designed to be driven by a chauffeur. That’s why it has an extra-long wheelbase and that’s why the passenger seat is gone.
Now I personally associate a passenger seat delete with the janky old vans that my high school wrestling team used to haul around stinky workout gear and (with the assistance of a milk crate) an extra person up front.
This front-seat delete is used as a footrest/shoe cubby/touchscreen holder dubbed a “lounge console.” Yes, Volvo took out the front passenger seat to put in a shoe cubby. I love this so much. Volvo imagines their most luxurious customers prioritize their shoes over their friends. This may be the most accurate assessment of the rich yet seen by a car company.
I would like now to note how the shoes are facing. They are facing to the rear, facing the person who presumably took them off. This is important. Obviously anyone taking off their shoes would be facing forward, and any normal person would thusly place their shoes into the cubby facing forward. These shoes, however, face backwards, like in a shoe store. There is only one reason for this: to show off your shoes to the other person sitting in the car. “Oh, my GUCCI LOAFERS?” This person my say, as casually as possible. “They’re right here, in my GUCCI CUPBOARD.” This person would then open up the shoe cubby, and the other passenger would groan.
As for the screen, you can see how it would articulate in this interior shot, too. Those big arms are what let it move around.
The S90 Excellence also features a built-in fridge with accompanying crystal glasses, but these do not share space with the shoe cubby, perhaps wisely. The fridge is where the back middle seat would be, if you’re curious That’s how the already-spacious S90 goes from a five- to three-seater. It’s not exactly a McLaren F1, but I still think it’s cool.
Would I myself buy one of these super-lux Volvos over, say, a Bentley? You bet your ass I would. These things are neat as heck.
In any case, this car will be made in China, as we reported earlier. Chauffeur-driven cars are the norm over there in the luxury segment, so that makes sense, and it’s a nice commitment from Volvo to say that their top-of-the-line cars will be Chinese and export them as such.