Mainstream players like Ford and Vauxhall stopped building big luxury saloons when it became clear they were struggling to compete in a declining market. The once proud and imposing Vauxhall Omega and Ford Scorpio were consigned to the great scrapyard in the sky.

That left the top end of the market to premium brands such as BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz. With the new S80, however, Volvo reckons it has a credible weapon to take on the Germans. So does it? Well, the new car replaces a model that’s been around for eight years, so there was plenty of room for improvement. Visually, Volvo has evolved the original form, with a body more tautly drawn over the structure, lower bonnet, chunkier door sills and a convex rather than concave door design. But you’ll still have to squint hard to tell this new car from the original. It’s not very exciting, but it is most definitely a Volvo.

Inside, the front seats are luxuriously comfortable, and the dash presents all important controls in a way that makes the driver’s job easy. Some of the lower-console buttons and icons are a bit small, though, especially for those of a less hawk-eyed nature (for which read “older”). The dash is attractive in an inoffensive way and the materials all have a quality feel. But the whole interior effect isn’t nearly as interesting as the BMW 5-series or as geometrically feelgood as an Audi A6.

In the back, a 6ft-plus passenger will have masses of headroom, but if he’s sitting behind someone of similar height, legroom will feel a bit tight.

But my oh my, there’s a lot of technology going on in here. At the base of the windscreen on either side you’ll find a red warning light that comes on when cars behind move into your blind spot — detected by small cameras mounted under each wing mirror. There’s adaptive cruise control, too, which maintains a selected distance from cars in front and brakes or accelerates without input from the driver. And get this, a device that can remotely determine if there’s anyone in the car by looking for a heartbeat.

Then there’s the Intelligent Driver Information System, which monitors how much stress the driver might be undergoing based on throttle input, steering angle and indicator action. If it thinks you’ve got your hands full, it delays any incoming information that isn’t safety-related, such as phone calls or texts.

The S80 has loads of grip and a predictable, safe manner, but it’s just not an involving drive. There’s little feedback through the steering, which has selectable resistance modes from light through to heavy. The upside is comfort. The S80 deals quite well with the broken road surfaces we get in the UK.

I tried an S80 with a turbodiesel, which is what about half of all S80s sold in the UK will come with — a 185bhp five-cylinder D5 engine mated to a six-speed automatic with manual sequential shift. It felt a little sluggish and not as refined as the likes of Audi. There was pronounced vibration at idle (in gear, foot on brake) and a bellicose roar under full throttle.

The S80 is also offered with a 315bhp V8 and four-wheel drive. There are other options, at prices ranging from £24,375 for the entry-level petrol model all the way up to an eye-watering £41,725 for the V8 SE.

So why would you buy an S80 rather than a BMW, Audi or Mercedes? Well, our Volvo man volunteered that for those who want premium but not German, here’s your car. They’ll be relatively exclusive as Volvo aims to sell 3,600 in its first full year, and you’ll get more kit for the money.

No, I’m not entirely convinced either.

THE OPPOSITION

Model BMW 525d SE £29,535
For Still the best to drive in this class, 42.2mpg
Against Styling not to all tastes, overly aggressive image

Model Audi A6 2.7 TDI SE £27,095
For Build quality, image, great engine
Against Ride quality can be awful on bigger wheels