Volvo XC90 – late but still a pioneering SUV

The first SUVs (as opposed to the earlier 4×4 vehicles which were more workhorse in character) appeared in the early 1980s and their popularity kept growing. During the 1990s, demand for SUVs rose in far greater numbers that other types of vehicles, especially in North America. The trend was so significant that even the high-end carmakers had to include at least one SUV in their line-up.

By the end of the 1990s, almost every carmaker had at least one SUV but Volvo surprisingly did not. As an alternative, it offered a ‘ruggedized’ version of the the V70 stationwagon which it called the ‘Cross-Country, while the R&D guys looked deeply into the development of a SUV.

Safety first or no SUV
They studied the issues related to SUVs, one of which was that the tallness of such vehicles meant that they could roll over easily. For Volvo, which has safety as its core value, such an issue had to be addressed otherwise they would not offer a SUV.

 

Interestingly, BMW too had the same approach when it developed its first SUV, the X5, insisting that it had to have the driving dynamics like other BMWs – even if it was a taller vehicle.

Approved in Arizona
Project Director Hans Wikman and his team were determined to solve all these issues when the XC90 was ‘cleared for take-off’ by Volvo’s top management at the Arizona Proving Ground in May 1999.

Wikman recalled his feelings when the management team inspected the three design alternatives under the burning desert sun: “We in the project team were a bit tense. The SUV program had been canned twice before. Now we kept our fingers crossed that our favourite design was so good that the executives would approve it without hesitation. And that’s exactly what happened.”

Valuable input from women
“The model we showed to the management was almost identical to the production XC90 we revealed in Detroit. We had done our homework well, much thanks to our female reference group. A majority of SUVs were driven by women and ‘our’ ladies gave us great input,” said Doug Frasher, whose design was the one that was approved for production.

Masculine, not macho
The multi-background reference group, including Swedish Hollywood actress Maud Adams, inspired the shape of the XC90 by asking for masculinity instead of the traditional ‘macho’ look of most SUVs.

“I remember one of the ladies making a sweeping gesture that almost sketched the sleek shape of the bonnet flowing up on the A-pillar. We put a lot of effort into creating a design that felt strong and protective without the impression of sheer size. The XC90 is muscular, but not aggressive,” recalled Frasher.

A next-generation SUV
The XC90 was regarded as the first of the next-generation SUVs when it was launched in 2002. Its blend of SUV roominess, true passenger-car qualities and ground-breaking safety features made it an instant success (in North America, particularly) in a segment that was then tainted by several issues

It entered the market with a number of world’s firsts. Roll Stability Control (RSC), using a gyro-sensor to detect and counteract the risk of a rollover, was one of them, along with inflatable side curtains for all three rows of seats. There was also an integrated sliding centre booster seat for children in the second row and the seatbelts had pre-tensioners for all seats.

Cooperation between the reinforced roof structure, seat belt pre-tensioners and inflatable side curtains helped create superior rollover protection for all 7 occupants. “The roof structure was more or less intact after the car finished rolling in a demonstration shown to the media,” said Wikman.

Unexpected popularity
Volvo’s original target for the XC90 was 50,000 units a year worldwide. However, the model became so popular that the figures grew rapidly until they peaked at 86,000 units in 2005 (of which 42% were sold in the USA).

Sweden’s most valuable export
This success also brought the XC90 to the impressive position of being Sweden’s top  export product then. Its total yearly export value was over 40 billion SEK (about RM16.85 billion today) in the peak years. So even though the model was a ‘latecomer’ in the SUV segment, it became Sweden’s most valuable export product.