New Volvo XC90 model revealed - it's the XC90 TANK

New Volvo XC90 model revealed

Volvo is getting in to the armoured car game with a new fully armoured version of the XC90, and ‘armoured light’ versions of the XC90 and XC60 too.

If you want to be taken seriously as a Premium car maker, you need to offer not just substance and style but a perception that your cars are very much for the upper echelons of the car market. And Volvo has finally managed to do that since the arrival of the new XC90.

But if you’re aiming your cars at the higher up in society, they often need to be more than just stylish, practical and appealing, they sometimes need to be mobile safety cells for the potentially vulnerable.

So Volvo is going the same route as other Premium car makers and delivering armoured vehicles to protect the potentially vulnerable, and the daddy of these new models is the XC90 Armoured.

The XC90 Armoured is based on a T6 Inscription, and Volvo look to have done a good job of making it look ‘normal’, despite a VR8 rating meaning it has 360-degree ballistic resistance and explosive resistance thanks to 10mm high-strength steel armour and glass up to 50mm thick.

All that pushes the weight of the XC90 up to 4.5 tonnes, so Volvo has also fitted uprated suspension and brakes to cope, but performance will be rather dented; 4.5 tonnes is an awful lot for a 2.0 litre four-pot to propel.

At prices expected to start at getting on for half a million, the XC90 Armoured is not a car you’re likely to spec-up at your local dealer, but Volv is also going to deliver ‘Armoured light’ versions of the XC90 T6 and XC60 T6 which are a bit more attainable.

Aimed primarily at dodgy locations in Latin America, they feature additional protection which adds a relatively measly 250kg in weight, but offers increased protection for the potentially vulnerable.

The Volvo XC90 Armoured goes on sale later in the year, with the ‘Armoured Light’ models following on.