Volvo's gorgeous S90 will soon come stateside as a long-wheelbase sedan

[Suarez™]

Second Chinese-market import will let buyers stretch out

Volvo will sell the long-wheelbase version of its S90 sedan in the U.S. and Europe, Automotive News China reports. The Chinese-market S90L, which will likely be badged S90 Inscription stateside, will be Volvo's second China-made model to be offered in the U.S. after the S60L made its way here as the S60 Inscription.

The standard-wheelbase S90 sedan debuted earlier this year reviving a nameplate dormant since the late 1990s to replace the long-serving and somewhat stale S80 sedan. The outgoing S80 itself was offered in China in long-wheelbase form, though that version never made its way to the States.

It remains to be seen just how far upmarket the S90L will go; the model is still intended to be a competitor to the BMW 5-Series and the Mercedes-Benz E-Class rather than a challenger to the 7-Series and the S-Class. Volvo has studiously avoided taking the large German sedans head on in size and price, a stance that has been seen as a compromise since the debut of the first-generation S80 sedan in 1999.