Certain car manufacturers are somewhat nervous talking about their vehicles being involved in accidents. For example when I hit a large deer in a Mercedes the manufacturers hated it, even though I said the car performed brilliantly well.

To mention it they thought was the kiss of death and a curse on them.

Of course Mercedes is one manufacturer, while another is Volvo and they have a completely different approach.

Before I drove their large Volvo XC90 they wanted me to know that no Volvo XC90 driver or passenger deaths have been reported in the UK car-to-car crashes and they have the blurb to advertise it.

To me that’s the best statistic involving any car you can have and Government crash statistics back up Volvo's pioneering real-life crash investigation work.

More than 70,000 Volvo XC90s have been sold in the UK to date and since 2014 the entire Volvo range has been fitted with automatic emergency braking as standard.

Volvo's advanced safety technology is designed to keep occupants and other roads users safe and not a single Volvo XC90 occupant has died in a car-to-car accident in the UK since 2004, according to the Government crash figures.

The XC90 was the first SUV in the world to be fitted with Roll Stability Control, which measures the car's roll angle in extreme manoeuvres and activates the stability control system to reduce the risk of a rollover accident.

The second-generation XC90, launched in 2014, came with two world-first safety aids: Run-off Road Protection and automatic emergency braking at junctions. Should the car inadvertently leave the road, Run-off Road Protection automatically tightens the front seatbelts to keep occupants in the safest possible position.

To help prevent spinal injuries, a collapsible energy-absorbing section between the front seats and seat frame cushions the vertical forces that can occur if the car lands on a hard surface. The XC90 was also the first car in the world to feature automatic emergency braking that activates if the driver turns into the path of an oncoming vehicle at a junction.

Volvo's pioneering safety technology goes beyond protecting those inside the car, however. The XC60 mid-size premium SUV was the first car to come with automatic emergency braking as standard when it was launched in 2008, while every new Volvo model has been fitted with this life-saving technology since 2014.

The latest version of automatic emergency braking can even detect pedestrians, cyclists and large animals, helping to keep all road users free from harm.

Volvo has an exceptional record in official crash tests, too. Both the latest-generation XC90 and XC60 were named the car with the best overall performance of the year when they were tested by safety organisation Euro NCAP, in 2015 and 2017 respectively.

This continued focus on safety innovation and real-life accident data is all part of Volvo's Vision 2020 – that no one will be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo car by 2020.

Jon Wakefield, Volvo Car UK's MD, said: "Volvo has been at the forefront of automotive occupant safety since we invented the three-point seatbelt in 1959. Put simply, there is no safer car on the road than a Volvo."

And it’s not just safe, it’s quite brilliant to drive – both fun and powerful. Sure it might be expensive but when you get into a car and everything is at your fingertips and everything works what more do you want.

Volvo is maintaining strong sales into the second half of 2018, with global sales up 15 per cent in July, compared with the same month last year. The company sold a total of 50,931 cars in July, as sales grew in all main markets.

In the first seven months of 2018, sales grew by 14.5 per cent compared to the year before, to a total of 368,570 cars. The strong performance follows Volvo Cars’ best ever first six months of sales, and places the company firmly on course for another full year record.

Sales in China, which is Volvo’s largest market, increased by 9.2 per cent mainly due to the popularity of the locally produced XC60 and S90 models. Total sales for the month amounted to 10,121 cars.

In Europe, sales reached 24,355 cars in July, increasing by 10.1 per cent compared with July 2017 following high demand for the XC60 and XC40 models.

Prices of the XC90 vary from around 45,000 to 64,000 and there are 15 versions including a couple of hybrids. All are powered by turbo two litre engines and 0-60mph is easily reached up to eight seconds. Top speed is more than 120mph and miles per gallon is between 40 and 50mpg.