Last month, we held the Don Beyer Volvo All-New XC90 Roadshow events in our showrooms to celebrate the arrival of one of the most anticipated models to hit the road, the All-New 2016 Volvo XC90! We invited hundreds of local Washingtonians to join us in welcoming the most luxurious SUV to the Washington D.C. metropolitan roads!
During the two-hour event, the 2016 Volvo XC90 was test driven by potential consumers with Product Specialists from Volvo Cars. Having the ability to test drive the most technologically advanced vehicle with a specialist from the vehicle’s manufacturer was a treat for all the senses! Truth be told, I tracked the first customer XC90 coming off the vessel at the Port of Baltimore! After twelve years in production, the release of the All-New 2016 Volvo XC90 paves the way for Volvo’s future and the car industry as an entirety. A manufacturer with a vision for the year 2020 that promises no driver or passenger will die behind the wheel of a Volvo. The same manufacturer that invented the three-point safety belt, literally changing the world by saving an estimated one million lives since 1959. Needless to say, the vehicle’s arrival was kind of a big deal! I was one of the lucky first Washingtonian’s to indulge in the feeling of the XC90’s smooth diamond-cut stop/start button as I powered on the super and turbocharged groundbreaking engine of the first Don Beyer Volvo 2016 Volvo XC90! I felt the warm sun on my skin under the widest glass, panoramic roof Volvo has ever manufactured, listened to Maroon 5’s Sugar through the Bowers and Wilkins Premium Sound system in the Studio room mode (1 of 3 available “Room Transformation” modes!). But I must admit that I was taken to an entirely new level of driving experience when I test drove the XC90 again during our Roadshow! There are almost countless amenities that the All-New Volvo XC90 brings to your driving experience, proving very difficult for our Roadshow guests and staff to share just one of their favorite XC90 features. The All-New 2016 Volvo XC90 was built to be experienced and beats the same heart as the first Volvo ever manufactured, the 1927 Volvo OV4, to be designed around you. The All-New 2016 Volvo XC90, is our idea of luxury.
DESIGNED AROUND YOU.
LOVE AT FIRST SEAT. What initially drew me into the All-New Volvo XC90 was the Scandinavian vibe of the XC90. The details of the XC90 represents the veracity of perfection. The XC90 is executed to be uniquely centered around the driver by intertwining the luxurious control features intricately into the Swedish craftsman shift and driving experience so flawlessly that you can’t help but instantly feel at home behind the wheel. It doesn’t hurt that the All-New Volvo includes a glove box that can cool your contents with just a touch! Oh and let’s not forget about XC90’s seats and the instant WiFi hotspot capability and simple iPad like console.All of our Roadshow guests agree that experience and convenience are everything in the newly redesigned XC90. Volvo Cars has mastered the art of excelling advanced technology in vehicle manufacturing.
TECHNOLOGY SIMPLIFIED.
The experience begins with the XC90’s stunning next generation keyfob, covered in font Nappa leather, which welcomes you with automatic approach lighting that activates upon unlocking the car. Before you even get comfy in the most luxurious and customized memory foam seats in the automotive industry, you have the option to cool off the car by lowering all the windows with one push or should your hands be full, just give your foot a shake under the left side of the bumper and the tailgate automatically breezes open for you.
Being the proud owner of a 2003 Volvo V70 (with seats that conform like a dream!) I couldn’t wait to get behind the wheel to enjoy Volvo’s advanced legendary seats. The seats in XC90 are revolutionary and not just in comparison to my twelve-year-old wagon! The XC90’s seats offer even greater comfort and better functionality than ever before while still embracing Volvo’s traditional dedication to detail and safety. The seat movement capabilities have a larger range for adjustment horizontally and a greater angle adjustment for the front end of the driver’s side seat cushion to appeal to taller occupants. The safety belt itself is the most visible reminder of all Volvo dedication to safety, with an engraved message of “Since 1959” on each of the front seat belts. The visual representation reassuring me instantly of Volvo’s heritage and pioneer status of the three-point safety belt, established in 1959. 
Being gadget crazed, I was instantly intrigued by the center console. Preparing myself to dive in and figure out this beast of system, I hesitantly grazed my finger over the sleek and elegant 9 inch control panel, to be met with the distinct simplicity and responsiveness of Apple’s iPad interface. The interface actually felt somehow even simpler than iPad, with much less of a need for scrolling due to the XC90’s ability to use vertical or portrait format. The Light Control Film that covers the impressively large display encompasses an anti-reflective coating on the screen, making glare and reflection completely at bay even with clear sunny bright skies. What really differentiates Volvo from the competition in technological advances is the arrangement and organization of information presented to the driver. Everything you need to know about your driving experience (and the XC90 itself), housed all in one central location, removing the need for a separate external control device to access information.
After RoadShow I knew I was not alone in my excitement for this vehicle’s launch. I have seen my fair share of new models released over the years, but being able to witness the reaction of Volvo enthusiasts who attended our RoadShow event was an unforgettable experience. Concluding the RoadShow with sumptuous hors-d’oeuvres, wine and music from the band, we gathered around the All-New XC90 to discuss our favorite features. Many potential consumers were attracted Volvo’s new T8 Twin-Engine, that combines the supercharged & turbocharged Drive-E engine with a powerful electrical motor that delivers an exhilarating driving experience while simultaneously minimizes the impact driving can have on our environment. With three distinct driving modes, Pure Electric, Hybrid, and Power, the versatility of choosing a driving mode that fits a driver’s current performance mood intrigued many of our test drivers to get behind the wheel. Perhaps it is the pure Swedish crystal gear shifter made by Orrefors that entrances drivers in the capabilities of the vehicle they’re driving, but many become seduced by the XC90’s performance capabilities, never having to compromise high-performance for the benefits of a smooth and environmentally beneficial smart plug-in-hybrid electric city car that seats 7! Others were fascinated by the advanced technology that comes packed in the XC90, encountering a driving experience unlike ever before. The Heads Up display embodies Volvo Cars invested interest in designing their vehicles around their drivers. The option to have a heads-up display in front of the driver means never having to take your eyes off the road to be conscious of your surroundings and your driving habits, keeping you safe and secure, one of the many features in the XC90 that can only be thoroughly understood, by experiencing the XC90 for yourself.
While the RoadShow may be over, we invite you to come see for yourself why the XC90 is Don Beyer Volvo’s idea of luxury. So bring the family along and fill all of the 7-seats. The XC90 has a hidden treasure for drivers and passengers of all ages. Thanks to Vice President of ‘Vehicle Line 90’, Dennis Nobelius, at Volvo Cars, who didn’t originally care for the finished hidden side of storage compartments, you can send your children on a search for the hidden spiders located throughout the XC90’s reinforced plastic-the XC90 is designed around people in every way possible..
The All-New 2016 Volvo XC90, luxury designed you.
A special thank you to all of the Volvo enthusiasts who joined us for our XC90 RoadShow event and to our Volvo Cars representatives who joined us the evening of the RoadShow: Jennifer Wilson, our Volvo Cars Corporate Sales Manager, Bruce Harroun, our Volvo Cars Service Manager, XC90 Product Specialists, Dillon Ruczko and Martin Apolinar.