Further details have emerged about the next-generation Volvo XC90, which will go on sale before the end of 2014.
The new model will host a raft of safety features from launch, with Volvo claiming the new 4×4 will be the safest car in the world.
Keeping the all-wheel-drive, seven-seat package, which made the original so popular, the new XC90 will feature two, world-first safety technologies.
Reducing the risk of leaving the road – a cause of up to 50 percent of accidents in the USA alone – is a system called Safe Positioning. By monitoring typical causes such as driver distraction, fatigue and poor weather the conditions, the car ‘looks’ ahead and adjusts the safety equipment accordingly. Additionally, to prevent spinal injuries for passengers, specially-designed energy-absorbing features have been built into the seats and cushions.
Another new feature of the XC90 is Cross Traffic Alert, which alerts the driver to traffic approaching at angles from 30 metres away, such as at crossroads, sending audible and visual warnings to the driver.
If those warnings don’t deter the driver the XC90 automatically brakes, attempting to prevent a collision completely or at least significantly reduce the speed. It’s all part of Volvo’s vision that by 2020 nobody will be killed or seriously injured if involved in an accident in one of its cars.
As well as the new safety technology, the new XC90 is constructed from a greater percentage of incredibly strong boron steel.
Further details of the new XC90 will be leaked out over the coming weeks ahead of its final unveiling. Parkers will be among the first to view the new model and test the new car.
In the meantime, check Parkers’ full review of the current Volvo XC90.
