rperez817 Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 (edited) The crossover craze just claimed another victim. Volvo V90 Wagon Goes From Special-Order-Only to Forever Unavailable (motortrend.com) It's the same sad song we've heard a dozen or more times before. [Insert automaker here], which in this case is Volvo, is brave enough to sell a beautiful new sweet-driving wagon in the United States (the unbelievably beautiful Volvo V90) in the hopes that buyers will finally see that these long-roof cars are really just better-driving SUV alternatives and see the light. But time goes on, and the wagons are left on lots or their order books lay empty, being passed over in favor of taller, uglier, less engaging, inexplicably more popular sport-utes. Then, the inevitable happens—that wonderful wagon passes on to the great winding road in the sky. Edited July 9, 2021 by rperez817 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 The "Active" version - V90 cross country - is still available. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 Don’t blame crossovers. People just don’t like wagons. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rperez817 Posted July 9, 2021 Author Share Posted July 9, 2021 13 minutes ago, akirby said: Don’t blame crossovers. People just don’t like wagons. Volvo Cars USA itself is at least partly of the blame for V90's cancellation. Their marketers promote V90 Cross Country (the version of V90 with jacked up suspension and ugly tacked on SUV styling elements as shown in rmc523's post) with the "active lifestyle" image that's been so successful in keeping the crossover craze going throughout the automotive industry. By contrast they barely did any promotion of the regular V90 at all in the 4 years the model has been offered in the U.S. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twintornados Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 Huh...go figure, an automobile manufacturer that sees the sales slide of a poorly selling vehicle and decide to stop production. The horror! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 (edited) 50 minutes ago, rperez817 said: Volvo Cars USA itself is at least partly of the blame for V90's cancellation. Their marketers promote V90 Cross Country (the version of V90 with jacked up suspension and ugly tacked on SUV styling elements as shown in rmc523's post) with the "active lifestyle" image that's been so successful in keeping the crossover craze going throughout the automotive industry. By contrast they barely did any promotion of the regular V90 at all in the 4 years the model has been offered in the U.S. people don't buy wagons, whether they're marketed or not. Volvo has moved only 1,453 V90s from the car's debut in 2017 through the end of the 2020 model year. The figures don't break out the standard V90 versus the lifted V90 Cross Country, but we would bet that the V90 portion of that figure is infinitesimal. They sold 1,453 V90s of either type - regular or Cross Country - in 3 YEARS. That's just over 40 per month. I know it's special order which limits numbers, but if it were flying off the lots, they wouldn't need to make it special order. Edited July 9, 2021 by rmc523 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rperez817 Posted July 9, 2021 Author Share Posted July 9, 2021 (edited) 30 minutes ago, rmc523 said: They sold 1,453 V90s of either type - regular or Cross Country in 3 YEARS. An employee of Volvo Cars USA said that the V90 Cross Country typically outsells regular V90 by a ratio of "four, five, six to one." That means the regular V90 sales in the U.S. in that timeframe didn't even reach 300 units at the most. That level of exclusivity means that U.S. regular V90 owners may have a future collector car. Edited July 9, 2021 by rperez817 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NLPRacing Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 1 hour ago, rperez817 said: An employee of Volvo Cars USA said that the V90 Cross Country typically outsells regular V90 by a ratio of "four, five, six to one." That means the regular V90 sales in the U.S. in that timeframe didn't even reach 300 units at the most. That level of exclusivity means that U.S. regular V90 owners may have a future collector car. A friend of mine just bought one, it's a good-looking car. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rperez817 Posted July 16, 2021 Author Share Posted July 16, 2021 (edited) Car and Driver just posted its review of regular 2021 Volvo V90, oddly enough just a few days after Volvo Cars USA announced that it would be discontinued for 2022 model year. Tested: 2021 Volvo V90 T6 Was Good While It Lasted (caranddriver.com) Quote "If you're reading this, it may already be too late. When we recently took delivery of this handsome, metallic brown 2021 Volvo V90 wagon in its sumptuous top T6 Inscription trim level, we had some vain hope that if we found the right words to channel its blend of utility and civility, a greater American audience might wake up to the joys of the station wagon. But as we put fingers to keyboard for this review, news broke that Volvo has decided to discontinue the V90 (and certain trims of the smaller V60) in the United States for the 2022 model year. May perpetual light shine upon it." HIGHS: Beautiful design, luxurious interior, immensely practical. LOWS: Special order only, modest driver engagement, unappreciated by an SUV-loving public. Edited July 16, 2021 by rperez817 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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