Chauffeurs can get uppity, and it's no wonder: They're entrusted with driving your six-figure luxury vehicle, and just as you sit in the back with an empty seat next to you, so too is there an empty seat next to the chauffeur up front. This may give them the illusion of parity, or that they'll one day have a companion to sit next to them and keep them company on those long drives to the airport, and that sends the wrong message.

But not with Volvo's XC90 Excellence Lounge Console concept, designed for the discriminating executive.

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The designers have ripped the front passenger seat out altogether and replaced it with a multifunctional object. At first glance, it's a shoe cabinet.

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This conveniently deprives the chauffeur of a place to keep his personal effects, with the added bonus of allowing the passenger to take their shoes off and place their aromatic feet much closer to where the chauffeur can smell them.

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A pop-up tray contains a 17-inch LCD monitor and doubles as a jewelry tray, with a large mirror that flips out of the rear.

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There is also a lockable compartment where you can store an array of expensive watches that cost more than the chauffeur's annual salary; it cannot hurt, we think, to mention this aloud as you bring each watch out to model it.

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Admittedly the design is not perfect, as the executive may wish to sit on the left-hand side and still stretch out. Ideally there would be some way for a left-riding passenger to recline, extending their shoeless feet to either side of the chauffeur's head. But until they work that out, we'll have to settle for this: