ESTEPONA, Spain -- Volvo Car USA expects to sell about 15,000 of its new S90 flagship in a full year and capture about 5 percent of the midsize import sedan segment.
Volvo estimates the S90, which goes on sale next month, will compete in a segment of about 300,000 vehicles, said Anders Robertson, product manager for the 90 cluster at Volvo Car USA. The 90 family includes the XC90 crossover that went on sale last year, the S90 sedan and its T8 plug-in electric variant, the V90 station wagon, V90 Cross Country and most likely a long-wheelbase model.
The larger and roomier S90 replaces the S80 developed when Volvo was owned by Ford Motor Co. The S90 rides on a new scalable platform and uses a new family of four-cylinder engines.
Volvo sold 1,887 S80s last year, and sales peaked at 12,347 in 2007, according to the Automotive News Data Center.
Pricing starts at $47,945 for the S90 T5 Momentum with front-wheel drive and a turbo inline-four engine with 250 hp. It increases to $57,245 for the all-wheel-drive T6 Inscription with 316 hp. Both prices include shipping.
Robertson said most buyers will be conquests. He expects the S90 to compete with the Mercedes-Benz E class, BMW 5 series, Audi A6, Infiniti Q70 and Lexus GS.
In the United States, Volvo will launch three other 90 variants next year: the V90 station wagon, the V90 Cross Country and the T8 plug-in hybrid sedan. Volvo did not provide timing or pricing for the other models. The company expects to sell about 1,000 station wagons annually in the small segment in which very few Europeans compete, Robertson said.
The V90 Cross Country, which rides higher than the station wagon or sedan, will replace the XC70 that goes out of production this year, Robertson said. Volvo sells about 5,000 XC70s a year in the United States and hopes sales of the new Cross Country can reach that level, he said.