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The Volvo XC90 has been named Car of the Year 2015 and Large SUV of the Year at this year’s Auto Express New Car Awards.

Volvo Cars’ award-winning XC90 is already close to selling out its entire first year’s planned production run of 50,000 cars. To date over 44,000 cars have been ordered.

“This award reflects the great passion that Volvo Cars puts into its new cars. We understand our customers’ desire to have beautiful cars – cars that make their lives easier by delivering the latest technology – but in a user-friendly manner. We also understand the driving need for powertrains that deliver efficient performance, and a chassis that provides a balanced and engaging driving experience,” said Dr Peter Mertens, Senior Vice President Research & Development at Volvo Car Group, accepting the award.

Steve Fowler, Editor-in-Chief of Auto Express, said: “We’ve been waiting a long time for the XC90, but it was well worth the wait – it’s a sensational SUV. It not only sets new standards for Volvo, but for the car market in general, leading in terms of technology, efficiency, style and safety. It’s also got an element of style – inside and out – that you might not have expected. If the XC90 points the way for the future of Volvo, the future looks very bright indeed.”

A blend of rich Scandinavian design elements, both inside and out, makes the XC90 stand out from the crowd. Delivering a commanding road presence with the distinct ‘Thor’s Hammer’ LED headlights and larger grille, the XC90’s powerful exterior design makes a strong, yet subtle statement.

The interior’s crowning glory is the in-car control system, Sensus. This intuitive system controls all the major functions of the vehicle, from the infotainment, phone, navigation and connectivity features. The interior is the epitome of Scandinavian design, a serene and relaxing environment, combining the finest natural materials available such a leather and wood, and at the same time being a practical seven-seat SUV.

Volvo Cars’ design team has completely re-imagined how children could travel safely in cars in the future. The move follows the Shanghai reveal of the XC90 Excellence and the Lounge Console Concept, which marked a bold and luxurious step forward for the Swedish car brand.

“We started by asking ourselves if we could make life easier for parents and safer for their children when it comes to the child seat experience. We focused on three key benefits – making it easier to get the child into and out of the child seat from an ergonomic and comfort perspective, providing the child with a safe rearward facing seating position that enables it to keep eye-contact with either the driver or the rear passenger and of course including enough storage for those vital child accessories, such as diapers, bottles, wipes, and so on,” said Tisha Johnson, Chief Designer Interiors at Volvo Cars Concept and Monitoring Centre.

The concept enables the parent to swivel the seat counter-clockwise when seating the child and then lock the seat in a rearward facing position. The concept also provides storage for small items beside the seat and a storage space underneath for diapers, blankets, or other larger items and enough space for a tote bag at the front of the seat under the dashboard.

 “For us the safety, convenience, and emotional factors outweigh everything else. Being able to maintain eye contact with your child from the rear seat , or being able to keep a bottle warm in the heated cup holders in the XC90 Excellence, would go a long way towards making life easier for parents taking their small child on a trip. Such alternative seating arrangements will become increasingly important as we move towards autonomous vehicles,” added Tisha Johnson.