
Let’s deal with the first part of that statement, because it does need a caveat. The Volvo XC90 is not an off-roader and never has been. It’s decent at towing and can go further off-road than a conventional car due to its additional ground clearance and all-wheel drive.
But it hasn’t been designed for difficult terrain, like a Land Rover Discovery or a Toyota Land Cruiser. Customers will want the car to perform on the road. Having said that, the Land Rover Discovery is one of the best-selling cars in this sector in the UK. But the thousands of new models sold each year aren’t clogging up the UK’s green lanes and destroying unspoiled countryside. They are used predominantly on the road.
Now that’s out of the way we can get to grips with what most large SUV customers actually want.