Volvo Concept Estate previews upcoming V90 wagon

We flipped over the Volvo Concept Coupe at Frankfurt. We praised the XC Concept Coupe at Detroit. But the Volvo Concept Estate is the member of Volvo's recent show trio that finally reduced us to a large petri dish's worth of gibberish-spouting goo. Shown at the Geneva motor show a few weeks back, the Concept Estate held its own with the other debuts. If you need a refresher, said debuts included the Koenigsegg One:1, the Bugatti Veyron Rembrandt, the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider and the new volume model from some podunk outfit in Sant'Agata Bolognese.

Now Germany's Auto Bild reports that the Concept Estate informs the cues of an upcoming V90. In line with Volvo's current trend, the V90 will dispense with the Swedish Geely unit's hoary five-and-six cylinder units in favor of four-pot motivation. Elsewhere in the world, that also includes diesel power and, soon, a plug-in hybrid, which we'll no doubt get here in the States.

Volvo's current V60 is a knockout machine, without a hint of the ponderousness that often plagues Gothenburg's safety-first lineup. With BMW facing criticism over a lack of fun in its recent offerings and Audi taking shots for being too conservative with its styling, smaller players like Volvo and Cadillac have niches to fill; we're happy to see them attempting to exploit them. If the V90 is built with the Concept Estate's styling and features the same newfound care put into dynamics, the company could well have a hit on its hands. At least in Europe. Americans who aren't automotive journalists continue to make the irrational mistake of shunning wagons.

But when one looks this good--if Volvo brings it over--is it too much to hope that our unenlightened populace might just change their minds?

By Davey G. Johnson