266 Volvo XC90s pre-ordered in India

Could the new XC90 be just the right car to get Volvo out of the fringes and into the thick of things in the luxury car market in India? If the first two months of sale of the XC90 are anything to go by, things sure are changing. Volvo tells us that 266 units of the XC90 have been pre-ordered, even before the first cars come to India. Volvo begins deliveries of the XC90 this month, two months after its launch here. 

And before prospective customers have even driven the new flagship Swedish SUV, 266 orders have been placed. That’s not all. There’s no settling for the lower variants as all 266 orders are for the top of the line Inscription model.

There’s much talked about the design and the new set of Drive-E engines that power all new Volvos so we’ll leave it at that. The inscription variant however, on which all the 266 deep pockets are swooning about, needs to be shed some light on. 

The XC90 comes in two variants in India – Momentum and Inscription. So while the Momentum comes with leather seats, Inscription gets Nappa leather. In the world of animal skins, Nappa is one of the finest you can find on a car seat. The Inscription model also gets heated front and rear seats, more leather on the dashboard and walnut garnishes too. Backlit Volvo sill plates and heads-up display are minor tricks to lure you from that Momentum variant. But the big draw with Mr. Inscription is the sweet sounding 19 speaker Bowers and Wilkins audio system, that this side of the Burmester system in the S-Class is the best there is in terms of in-car entertainment. 

The Volvo XC90 Inscription is priced at Rs 77.9 lakh, ex-showroom Delhi.