[andymcp]

Costs aside, I'm surprised at the launch. Looks great from a lot of angles, looks a lot like a Tiguan from others, also resembles the current XC60 from some points (no bad thing).

The interior is a vast step forwards in design, although I'm not sure about the all-touch interface. That's more a pet dislike than any direct failing - I feel key functions are less distracting if you can reach for a button rather than look around a featureless screen (you always have to take eyes off the road to use).

But it's a pleasing blend of current, new and similar design cues. Overall it works and I think will have good longevity in the range, probably optimising the design in a couple of refreshes time. Price wise, its in interesting territory with a solely 4-pot engine line-up. With only a quick play on the configurator I can see there being a lot of sub £40k basic builds then a large gap in specs to those who break £40k and go for the best toy packages.

Is there a finance calculator in there somewhere to see what residuals Volvo are predicting? Those were appalling for the Velar and on top of the eye watering buy price made for horrible monthly pricing if you took a PCP or equivalent road.

Overall though, first impressions are I like it, and finally the VEA is mated to AWD with a modern gearbox.