Repeat victory for Volvo's highly acclaimed seven-seat SUV
• Praised
for its style, quality, efficiency, space – and, of course, safety
• Available
with diesel, petrol and plug-in hybrid powertrains, priced from £46,850
• Innovative
T8 Twin Engine sits in 7% Benefit-in-Kind company car tax band
The
Volvo XC90 has been named 'Best Large SUV' at the Auto Express New Car Awards –
for the second year in a row.
The
XC90 beat new competition from Audi, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz to claim the
award, which was presented at a prestigious ceremony held at the Grand
Connaught Rooms, London, on Tuesday 5th July 2016.
Commenting
on the award, Auto Express's editor-in-chief, Steve Fowler, said: "Last
year's Auto Express Car of the Year wins its category once again, in spite of
strong competition. The Volvo XC90 is a fantastic SUV with its combination of
style, quality, space and efficiency. It has all the safety kit you'd expect
from a Volvo, but also a level of kit that you might not – it's a seriously
advanced car, which keeps it on top of the class."
The XC90
set a new standard for Volvo cars. Not only was it the first car to use Volvo's
all-new SPA (Scalable Product Architecture) platform, it heralded a new design
direction for the company and set new benchmarks in the class for connectivity,
safety and efficiency.
The SPA
platform is designed to offer the highest levels of technological
sophistication and safety, while being developed from the outset for
electrification means that the petrol-electric T8 Twin Engine version retains
all the seven-seat versatility and practicality of the petrol and diesel
versions, despite also housing the hybrid powertrain's batteries and electric
motor.
Every
XC90 is luxuriously equipped as standard, including a nine-inch touch screen
control system that provides access to the internet and a range of cloud-based
apps, two-zone climate control with Volvo's ground-breaking CleanZone
air-filtration system, LED headlights and a tailgate that you can open simply
by waving your foot beneath the bumper.
The
amount of safety equipment is equally impressive. As standard, every XC90 comes
with Pilot Assist – Volvo's semi-autonomous drive technology, which takes care
of the steering, accelerator and brake inputs to keep the car in its lane up to
80 mph – and fully automatic emergency braking with pedestrian, cyclist and
large-animal detection.
Jon
Wakefield, Acting Managing Director of Volvo Car UK, said: "To be awarded
the Best Large SUV title at the Auto Express New Car Awards is a huge
achievement – but to win it for the second year running is a testament to the
XC90's continuing excellence. The XC90 is a hugely important car for Volvo,
both in terms of what it shows we are capable of and where the company is
headed, and for the car to win this prestigious award again demonstrates just
how exceptional the first of the new generation of Volvo models really
is."