Every review of the new Volvo XC90 has been a drooly love song, and people seeing these things at dealerships seem to agree. Volvo’s already beaten the XC90’s global sales target for the entire year.
Volvo claims they set out to sell 50,000 XC90s worldwide in 2015, and so far have taken almost 57,000 orders. More than that, Volvo’s earning and burning on the expensive versions.
“With 76 percent of customers choosing the top end Inscription model, it is fair to say that we have now entrenched our position as a premium car maker,” said Alain Visser, a Volvo senior vice president said in a statement. Hence, my logic drawing the Land Rover/Range Rover comparison.
The fact that the “nice one” is hot right now isn’t a huge surprise, considering the first people to buy a redesign or new model tend to be those looking for the top trim. But still, it’s confirming that people with money to spend on a fancy SUV are spending it on this meatball with a side of lo mein.
Just in case anybody reading this doesn’t follow the auto industry too closely — and I’m guessing not many of you clicked on this article — that was a joke about Volvo being a Swedish-built Chinese-funded car. Nailed it, right?
Anyway Volvo’s sold more than quarter-million cars this year, so the XC90 represents a decent chunk of their total right now. If they’re smart they’ll run with this momentum and start porting some of this SUV’s sexiness into the rest of their lineup. Which apparently was the plan all along.
As goodcarbadcar pointed out, looking at Volvo’s US sales reminds us they’re still way behind America’s mainstay marquees and SUV models. The brand’s up to 34,984 total sales here since January, and 2,629 of those are all-new XC90s.
It’s still exciting to see what a little cash injection can do for a company with cool ideas. Volvo’s gonna be one to watch.
Contact the author at andrew@jalopnik.com.