Volvo 960 Reviews

Ask Toyota — the world’s biggest carmaker — and two brands are enough.Yes, Toyota makes trucks under the Hino brand and also has the minnow Daihatsu in its stable, but it is essentially Toyota and Lexus and that’s it.Part of Toyota’s success in Australia is it sells a vehicle for everyone, and every occasion.Lexus rarely steps on its big brother’s toes, with a clear premium divide separating the two.Now Chinese behemoth, Geely, is gearing up for an assault on the Australian market.It has a strong toehold Down Under with Volvo and Polestar, but after that is where things get murky.It also has Lotus, Smart, Zeekr and its home brand Geely to forge ahead with in 2025.Volvo and Polestar have clearly positioned themselves in the luxury space, but Geely, Smart and Zeekr are chasing the same mainstream buyers.All three are electric only, and are launching with semi-premium compact and mid-size SUVs.They are essentially the same vehicle underneath a slightly different styled skin. But electric cars all have similar looks, honed for aerodynamics, which gives them all a same-same-ness despite a tweaked non-grille or headlight treatment.The brands all share motors, batteries and tech features, which helps amortise costs, but can be a challenge when attempting to stand out from the crowd.Geely recently merged two of its brands, Zeekr and Lynk and Co, to reduce internal competition.According to Reuters, Geely boss Gui Shengyue said the integration would make the company more competitive."If we don't integrate , we must face issues such as internal competition ... and redundant investments in many aspects such as R&D, sales, which is stupid," he said according to Reuters.Geely isn’t alone in crowding its own space.The huge Volkswagen Group has Volkswagen, Skoda and newcomer Cupra all lobbing cars in a similar price bracket.The big difference is only Cupra is new, the VW Group isn’t attempting to launch three new brands in the space of 12 months that sell effectively the same cars.It’ll be a challenge for these three Chinese brands to stand out.They also face a wave of competition following them across the sea. GAC, Aion, Xpeng, Skywell, Leapmotor and Deepal are all planning to launch or have launched into the same market space as their compatriots.Not to mention established brands such as BYD, Chery, GWM and MG already with a group of loyal buyers and brand cache.It is starting to feel like China’s car industry is replacing the building industry responsible for towering ghost towns as its biggest economic driver and they need to find export markets quickly to keep the production lines open and the steel mills firing.Australia is a prime target with its lack of tariffs and relatively close proximity to the Chinese mainland.There are storm clouds brewing on the edge of the Australia new car market, though.Electric cars still only make up about 8.3 per cent of new cars bought through the first 11 months of 2024. More EVs have found homes this year than last, but less than 10 per cent is still relatively niche.Private buyers — generally the ones snapping up EVs — are stepping away from new car purchases at an alarming rate.Double digit drops in private buyers in each of the past four months compared to the year before is a worrying trend according to the head of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, Tony Weber.“This is a disturbing trend which illustrates how cost of living pressures are impacting households,” he said.Only time will tell if these brands can make it work, but it’ll be a tough slog in 2025.

The 2025 Volvo EX30 small SUV is the Swedish brand's new entry-level electric car. We're living with its Twin Motor Performance Ultra flagship for three months to find out if it's a relative bargain. So far, it's presented a very steep learning curve that might turn some would-be buyers off.

ANCAP has released a raft of new scores for eight new models which have landed in Australia this year, with some notable new entrants falling short of the maximum five-star rating.

Volvo has changed the name of its first electric car from the mouthful that was XC40 Recharge Pure Electric to simply EX40 in Australia.

Why Volvo's more affordable electric XC40 earns its place near the top of the electric small SUV segment.

Now two months in, does the XC40 still impress?

Volvo is confident that it will rule the premium EV world with a two-tiered approach moving forward. While all will encompass the Swedish brand’s core pillars of safety, efficiency, technology and luxury, where they are positioned in terms of price and size will determine which platform each model will employ.

Why the Volvo EX90 is late and why it's probably likely to be very worthwhile as a result.

Whoever said sedans were a thing of the past clearly didn’t get the memo.Electric sedans have invigorated the segment and it looks like another one is set to join the growing throng of EV sedans.At the very end of a livestream reveal of its refreshed XC90 SUV, Volvo dropped a teaser for a new model, with the caption confirming the ‘ES90’ nameplate.The brief video showed the silhouette of a sleek four-door model with a sloping, almost fastback-like rear and a boot lip, but beyond that it’s difficult to make out any other details.This model has long been rumoured but now it looks set to join the growing Volvo line-up to take on the likes of the Tesla Model S or Model 3, depending on its eventual size, the Mercedes-Benz EQE and BMW i4.Volvo didn’t reveal any other details but it’s highly likely the ES90 will be based on the same SPA2 architecture that underpins the similarly positioned Polestar 4 sedan, as well as the Volvo EX90 SUV.That model is offered with two powertrains that could point to what the ES90 will get. The rear-drive single-motor Polestar has a rear-mounted motor delivering 200kW/343Nm, and a 100kWh battery for a driving range of 620km. The Dual Motor Polestar 4 adds another motor to the front for all-wheel drive and ups the outputs to 400kW/686Nm. Driving range is 590km.Volvo has another large sedan in its line-up, the S90, and while it remains in production for some markets, it was discontinued in Australia in 2019. The related V90 wagon and the smaller V60 wagon were dropped from the local line-up in 2021. The S60 medium sedan remains on sale Down Under.Whether the ES90 completely replaces the S90 remains to be seen, but given Volvo’s push to full electrification by 2030, and the slowing market for internal combustion sedans, it’s likely.Pre-production has already begun in China, suggesting that it will be built there. Volvo is owned by Chinese automotive giant, Geely Holdings. While sedan sales have dropped in recent years, electric sedans have given the old school body style a second chance against the influx of high-riding SUVs.Some of the biggest selling EVs in Australia are sedans. This year alone, Tesla has sold 14,600 examples of the Model 3, while the relatively new BYD Seal has already found 5033 homes. Even the more premium BMW i4 has shifted 1454 units.Given the teaser campaign for the ES90 has just begun, expect more tidbits to be dropped by Volvo in the coming months.

Volvo has breathed new life into the ageing XC90 large SUV with a serious makeover to help it keep pace with its rivals.The seven-seat premium family-hauler has been on the market since 2015, with a number of updates along the way, but this upgrade will ensure the XC90 will be with us for a while yet.Australian launch timing is unclear, but Volvo is also in the process of launching the EX90 - an electric sibling to the XC90. The EV will land in Australia in April.The refreshed XC90 will, however, be electrified. The main powertrain variant confirmed is the plug-in hybrid T8, but 48-volt mild hybrid B5 and B6 grades will continue as well. The Australian 2025 XC90 line-up is yet to be outlined.The updated PHEV has an electric driving range of 70km on the WLTP cycle, and according to Volvo has a combined petrol-electric range of more than 800km.Volvo has not provided any more detail about the powertrain, so it’s unclear if it will have the same 288kW/640Nm outputs as the current model. It will be all-wheel drive.Volvo Australia has previously committed to becoming an EV-only brand by 2026 - much earlier than Vovo’s global target of 2030.However, the Chinese-owned Swedish brand is still selling plenty of non-electric models so the XC90 update makes sense. This will appeal to family buyers that aren’t quite ready to commit to a fully electric model.Volvo said in the XC90 press release the model mix is appropriate for right now, but suggested some markets are taking longer to embrace EVs.“This balance between fully electric and plug-in hybrids is the right portfolio for the market of today, as the premium fully electric market is still developing in several key markets. Plug-ins remain critical to our sales and profit growth plans over the coming years.”Whether this means Volvo Australia will include PHEVs as part of its plan to be electric only is unclear for now.The new 2025 XC90 ushers in a fresh front-end design, incorporating a modern take on the 'Thor's Hammer' LED headlights, and a new bonnet and grille with an updated diagonal logo spread across the car's face, giving it a sharper, smoother and more up-to-date look.Volvo hasn't messed with the signature LED tail-lights, aside from making them a little darker. Inside the XC90 gets a refreshed cabin and adopts the user experience from the EX90 and its smaller EX30 stablemate.It gains a larger 11.2-inch central touchscreen with higher resolution and Volvo says this “improves the user experience and opens up a world of new features, apps and of course regular over-the-air software updates”.In fact, Volvo says it will roll out this updated UX via a free over-the-air software update for any existing models that have Google built-in. That could be up to 2.5 million customers on cars built as early as 2020.Other interior tweaks include more practical storage spaces, particularly in the centre console, a horizontal dash design, restyled air vents and ‘premium’ recycled materials for the dash panels and trim.Under the skin, Volvo has made changes to the suspension setup to help improve ride quality. An optional air suspension is available with adjustable ride height.Local pricing hasn’t been confirmed but the current XC90 range runs from $100,990 before on-road costs for the B5 Bright, to $128,990 for the T8 PHEV.The all-electric seven-seat EX90 is expected to be priced north of $130,000 when it lands next year. The XC90 rides on Volvo’s SPA architecture, while the EX90 uses the SPA2 platform, shared with the incoming Polestar 3 SUV.The XC90 will continue to compete against the likes of the Lexus RX, BMW X5, Audi Q7, Mercedes-Benz GLE, Genesis GV80 and Mazda CX-90.The current XC90 landed in 2015, replacing the first-gen model that went on sale in 2006 becoming a global hit for Volvo.