Is the new Volvo XC90 going to be the Volvo Embla?

The next-generation Volvo XC90 is due to be revealed next year, and it looks like it could be Volvo Embla following trademark applications.

It’s been half a century since a Volvo had a name – the Volvo Amazon – because it’s really much easier to market a car across the globe using letters and numbers, avoiding any embarrassing linguistic clashes (like Hyundai Kona and Mitsubishi Pajero).

But earlier this year Volvo boss Hakan Samuelsson declared that despite the potential pitfalls Volvo’s new generation of EVs will get “a name, like a child”, and we speculated that Volvo could go the Norse Gods route or follow IKEA’s route and use stuff like Swedish lakes and islands.

Now, as the reveal of the next-generation XC90 nears, it’s looking like it will be the Volvo Embla, as Volvo files trademark applications in Europe for ‘Embla’.

‘Embla’ may not be a familiar word outside Scandinavia, but it’s the equivalent of Eve (Adam and Eve) as the first woman created by the Gods (with Askr the first man), carved from trees by Odin.

If the Volvo Embla is going to be the name for the next XC90, its meaning fits as Volvo creates a new type of car and a new path forward in a world now inexorably heading into an EV future.

We’re expecting the new XC90/Embla to be a production take on the Volvo Concept Recharge, which is less an SUV and more a Crossover mixed with an Estate, still with a higher ride but styling which is far less aggressive than the current XC90.