Volvo is back with a new SUV XC90

The Volvo XC90 is the most important car the Gothenburg, a Sweden-based company has produced in two decades. Volvo has a lot riding on this effort: it's the first of a slew of brand new models Volvo says it will bring to market by 2019 and it's the first model Volvo has produced under its new China-based parent company, Geely.

As far as looks go, its bold erect grill, those T-shaped LED headlamps and the 21-inch rims appear good. The stillsquare shape of the side windows (this is Volvo, after all) and the long and tall bright red tail lights flipped up on each side of the back — very handsome. It is big: three rows of seat s , but it's still nearly 9 inches shorter than the Cadillac Escalade. The XC90 is potentially tricky to park because of its challenging size, but those cameras and selfparking help entirely.

Inside, it's apparent that Volvo has taken every opportunity to prove this is a genuine Swedish product. The evidence is in the latte-hued wood panels across the dashboard, doors and console, by the sunroof that spans most of the roof. The craftsmanship in this Scandinavian sanctuary equals, if not exceeds, all of its higher-priced competitors. When you first slide into the driver's seat, you'll notice the tablet-sized screen in the middle of the dash. That is the god device. It controls all the new technology Volvo has flogged for a year: the four-zone climates, power heated and cooled seats, parking cameras, Bluetooth, sound system, navigation and more.

The ride height, as you might expect, lends total command of the road, allowing for what feels like an unlimited perspective, perched high above the traffic. There are virtually no blind spots. Riding in it feels like riding in something with the dimensions of a shoebox framed only by metal bars: Space, air and light flow through it uncontested.