Volvo is planning to take the covers off their most luxurious car yet, the XC90 ‘Excellence’ at the Shanghai International Auto Show.



So what is the ‘Excellence’ first and foremost? Well, it’s a Volvo XC90 but that’s pretty much where the similarity comes to a halt. As opposed to the regular version, the ‘Excellence’ only has four seats instead of the usual seven, which in turn creates a huge amount of additional space in the back.

The two extremely comfortable looking rear seats have a massage function and they’re also ventilated as one would expect. They come with a retractable control touchscreen, folding tables, a refrigerator with bottle and glass holders, a heating/cooling cup holder and handmade crystal glasses from Swedish glass design company, Orrefors.

Volvo Design VP Thomas Ingenlath, stated that “This is our new flagship car. We have created the ultimate luxury experience of Scandinavian design. Volvo has never launched a car like this before. This is the car that demonstrates what the name Volvo now means.”

If anybody (as in any car maker) deserves to keep rising in terms of both sales as well as prestige, it’s Volvo. They’ve been the world’s most underrated premium car manufacturer for over a decade now.

Those riding in the XC90 ‘Excellence’ will also benefit from footrests, ambient lighting, illuminated storage and unique leather detailing. There will also be a luggage compartment dividing screen, better sound insulation in the cabin and Pirelli Noise Cancelling System tires (PNCS).

In terms of audio, the 19-speaker Bowers & Wilkins system is sure to offer you some high fidelity sound reproduction, since you can’t have a luxury car without a top of the line sound system.

“What we have designed is amongst the best rear seat experiences available in a luxury car,” added Mr Ingenlath, and we have to give it to Volvo for not getting carried away and saying it’s the best reproduction of automotive luxury money can buy or the best you’ll find in any SUV. We like to give out points for integrity. Even when it comes to press releases.

Furthermore, on board the ‘Excellence’ you’ll find an integrated air cleaner in the CleanZone climate system, a leather instrument panel with contrasting thread and chrome B and C-Pillar cappings and lower door moldings outside.

So far, over 24,000 XC90s have been ordered before the car has even reached Volvo showrooms. To put this into perspective, this is approximately half of what Volvo was expecting to sell for the entire year. So things are definitely looking good.

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