Chicago News Heaps Praise on 2019 XC90

In 2018, the weekly Chicago News named the Volvo XC90 its SUV/Crossover of the Year. Recently, the publication’s car reviewer, Jason Saini, took another XC90 out for a spin—this one a 2019 T6 Inscription—to see whether the model was still living up to the praise he’d heaped on it a year earlier. (Hint: It did.)

In a video review published on Nov. 3, 2018, and available on YouTube, Saini noted that “as good as this XC90 looks from the outside, it’s even more beautiful from the inside.”

He went on to remind viewers that Volvo had hired Bentley’s head of interior design to oversee the interior design department at Volvo several years earlier. That would be Robin Page, who made the move in 2013. In 2017, Page was promoted to senior vice president design at Volvo, succeeding Thomas Ingenlath, who became chief executive officer of Polestar, Volvo’s performance car company. Among the vehicles that were graced with Page’s interior design sense prior to his move to Volvo were the Bentley Continental and the Bentley Mulsanne.

Saini praised the 2019 XC90s leather stitching on the doors, seats and dash; its array of safety features; its supple ride on the included four-corner air suspension, despite being outfitted with 21” wheels; its steering feel; and its Bowers & Wilkins sound system (although he did niggle about a slight rattle from time to time in the driver’s side door speaker).

“So, is this XC90 as good as we remember from last year, when we awarded it SUV of the year?” Saini asked at the end of his ride. “The short answer is yes. This is a fantastic SUV.”