Part of its success is directly attributable to a newly minted Volvo philosophy; offer all-wheel drive on all models across the

The XC70 benefits from Volvo's new "all-wheel drive on all models" philosophy. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press)

board. This, among other things, such as dramatically elegant styling, dynamic performance, top notch interior quality and competitive pricing, has allowed it to gain market share while rising up from an entry-level premium brand to true premium status. Essential for that premium status is rear- or all-wheel drive. Premium customers don't buy in to front-wheel drive, at least for the most part. The collective position of company's such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz, which infer that rear-wheel drive as the optimal setup for sport-oriented performance, has been strengthened all the more by top-tier luxury newcomers such as Lexus and Infiniti. Even GM's Cadillac luxury division, which will have entirely abandoned front-wheel drive when the upcoming DTS soon replaces the DeVille, now preaches the merits of rear- and all-wheel drive. It should be mentioned that the old German guards have all recently come on-board with all-wheel drive

Premium customers don't buy in to front-wheel drive. (Photo: Volvo Cars of Canada)

variants of their most popular models, but the stoic firms make sure to point out that the car's are rear-wheel biased until the need for all-wheel drive intervenes. Actually, only a handful of premium automakers still offer anything configured to power only the front wheels anymore. Audi only offers its recently updated Cabriolet with front-wheel drive, dubbed FrontTrak, while Acura, on the low end of the premium price line, only offers all-wheel drive on its MDX sport utility and recently introduced RL. Four-wheel power is expected as part of a mid-cycle TL upgrade, however, as well as the upcoming RXD compact sport utility.