PARIS MOTOR SHOW: Arguably Volvo's MOST Important NEW Vehicle, The XC90, Is SPIED For The FIRST Time

Volvo is a niche luxury player. People just don't wake up and say "I want a Volvo." To be honest, I am not sure they ever have. The good news is that the owners that do pony up the bucks LOVE their vehicles and are brand loyalists for a LONG time.

The Swedish company has always relied on its reputation for safety to get by and in the past decade we've noticed it trying to pivot away from that. Remember the S80 with its body that "broke away from the box?" How about the C30 that brought the company into the entry-level luxury fold? The XC90 was the brand's first sport-utility vehicle and that spawned the XC60, which has become a volume seller for the marque.

OFFICIAL Paris Motor Show Gallery

Now the XC90 will be the car that ushers in a new era for Volvo. We got our first real-life look at the 2014 Paris Motor Show.

After seeing multiple concepts bringing a new design language to the fore, this is the company's first production application. So, what do YOU think?

Although Volvo recently announced the XC90 R-Design it didn't bring it to the show. Unfortunately, we only got to see what appears to be a hologram or three-dimensional computer-generated image. Pretty cool if you're in Paris, I guess.

OFFICIAL Paris Motor Show Gallery