VOLVO has taken the wraps off its new king-sized estate car which will be joining its flagship line up later in the year.

Following on from the award-winning XC90 SUV and the soon-to-arrive S90 luxury saloon, the new V90 is a 16ft 2ins long estate with masses of cargo space.

With sleek design, including a quite sharply raked rear window the new V90 will have its premiere at next month's Geneva Motor Show.

Like its sister ships, the V90 will be powered by a range of Volvo's eco-oriented Drive E engines which includes a plug-in hybrid with emissions as low as 47g/km.

The V90 will also feature the full array of safety systems which have seen the XC90 rated as the safest car on the road.

These include run-off road protection, large animal detection systems and a semi-autonomous drive function which enables the car to drive itself at motorway speeds.

The V90 will also be available with four-wheel-drive which will be a feature of the T6 and T8 petrol models and the D5 diesel.

Inside it is laid out in similar premium style to the XC90 and S90 models with the dashboard centred on a large, tablet-style touchscreen.

The car sits on Volvo's new large car platform and with rear seats folded can carry objects up to 6ft 6ins in length with maximum cargo capacity of 1,526 litres - marginally smaller than the current V70 estate.

Loading height is set at two feet and the V90 has an underfloor storage facility.

The entry level T5 V90 is powered by a four cylinder turbo petrol engine developing 254hp giving it a 0 to 60 acceleration of seven seconds and a maximum of 144mph with an official fuel return of 41.5mpg. Emissions are 154g/km.

The D4 diesel variant is marginally slower with a 0 to 60 time of 8.5 seconds but has emissions down to 119g/km and is more economical at 62.7mpg.

Official figures for the T8 plug-in hybrid rate it at 134mpg with its petrol-electric powertrain delivering rapid performance with 0 to 60 taking just 5.2 seconds. Total power output is 410hp and like the recently launched XC90 T8 it can travel purely on electricity for up to 30 miles.

The T6 and D5 four-wheel-drive versions of the V90 have fuel returns of 38.1 and 57.6mpg.

As a premium player the V90 has a full leather interior and uses state of the art connectivity systems which include Apple CarPlay.

The V90 is the latest in a line of some legendary estate cars from Volvo which started out in 1953 with the Duett and include cars such as the P220 Amazon of the 1960s, the 240 series from the 1970s and the high performance 850 T5 of the 1990s which gained a reputation on the race track featuring as the first factory-entered estate car to compete in the British Touring Car Championships.