Poor VW. If only the Phaeton had a place for the bichon--and if only gas were still $1.25/gallon--they'd be a premium luxury brand now, too.
If my Google translation is to be believed, the brain trust at Volvo feels that the thing holding their brand down, and keeping it from being considered alongside the likes of Mercedes, BMW, and Audi, is the absence of a large, powerful, premium flagship. minivan.
Teknikens Varld reports that a big, three-row, wagon/crossover/minivan/whatever dubbed the V100 is being readied for 2010 or 2011. It'll have a range of engine options, including a 4.4-liter V8. Says TV, "Today reigns Mercedes R-class alone in this class, no sales, but possibly the Mercedes ahead of its time."
Yeah, possibly.
Volvo V100 – nya storlastaren från Hisingen [teknikensvarld.se, via ttac, thanks dt reader jj daddy-o]
The third photo shown on the link is from an angle that this car just shouldn't be seen. I agree that this is going after a slice of an already tiny market.
Also coming even sooner: Subaru Exiga...maybe only in Japan and at a significantly lower price point.
posted by: sjg at June 3, 2008 9:27 AMA year before the R class came out in the US, I saw a ton of them in Germany and I was envious. Unfortunately, what was brought over was about a foot longer and bigger and indeed rivals minivans. The original European version looked like a stretch Smart fourfour, which was nice.
All I can say about that Volvo is fugly. Probably the same as the original Subaru Tribeca. Volvo should just try making an XC80 as the XC70 doesn't have the best performance and the XC90 is enormous. But what else do you expect from Ford.
[hmm, sounds a lot like the B-class, which looks similar, but much shorter and more reasonable. I was a fan until they bailed on bringing them to the US. -ed.]
posted by: contempt at June 3, 2008 10:53 AM