What Car? magazine has christened the new Volvo XC90 as Best 4x4 in its Car of the Year 2003 awards, announced at a recent ceremony at the London Hilton.

Rob Aherne, editor of What Car? said: "Volvo has waited a long time before joining the 4x4 fray, but the XC90 justifies the delay. We were extremely impressed by its space, versatility, safety and style. It's great value, too."

The XC90 took the Best 4x4 title from the previous winner, the BMW X5, which joined the Range Rover and Honda CR-V as runners up this year.

Hugh Reid, Volvo Car UK's managing director, was delighted to accept the award: "This What Car? award is very important and prestigious for Volvo and our new generation SUV, the XC90 - and its timing is perfect just as the first cars are launched in our showrooms and being delivered to customers."

The XC90's great design with an innovative, flexible interior offering up to seven individual forward facing seats has already won it more than 15,000 orders worldwide, plus other prestigious awards.