Volvo XC90 (2015)

After three highly-regarded concept cars and a rather extended gestation period, the first of the new generation of Volvo cars, the XC90 SUV, has been unveiled.

Designed – at least latterly – under the auspices of Thomas Ingenlath, who joined the sole remaining Swedish brand from VW as its design director in March 2012, the new Volvo XC90 is the first to sit on the company's new, modular SPA platform (Scalable Product Architecture, if you're interested). This allows more freedom in terms of proportions, with a particularly generous axle-to-dashboard distance.

Some may have hoped the Concepts Coupe, XC Coupe and Estate were a more accurate marker of the forthcoming production cars, but it's clear to see the continuation of the themes. In particular the grille and what the company describes as 'Thor's hammer' lamp graphics are the new face of the brand. On the evidence of these images however, the surfacing appears rather more cluttered both than the concepts and, indeed, the company's recent production cars. We'll wait until we see it in Paris in a few weeks to discover if the BMW and Skoda cues are simply a trick of the lens...

We've seen its interior previously, with its stripped-back secondary controls, mainly replaced by the large, portrait touchscreen. We're eager to discover the development of the car, in particular if the interior architecture was largely frozen by the time new head of interiors Robin Page arrived from Bentley. Certainly the integration of the central screen and the sparse-looking switchgear suggest a clean-sheet design wasn't permitted.

We'll bring you further details and the full story from Paris on 2 and 3 October.

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