Volvo already has hybrid models in its international line up and they launched plug-in-hybrid variant of XC90 in India couple of years ago
Last year, Volvo Cars India started its local assembly operation in India with XC90. Later the Swedish manufacturer began assembling of S90 sedan in its Bangalore plant also. In the next year or so Volvo will assemble new XC60 and V90 Cross Country.
Volvo already has hybrid models in its international line up and they launched plug-in-hybrid variant of XC90 in India couple of years ago. Now the company is planning to assemble hybrid cars in India as this will help the brand to be ahead of German luxury manufacturers who have not yet commenced assembly of hybrid models in India.
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Charles Frump, MD of Volvo Cars India said that it’s not a question of if but when to start assembly of hybrid vehicles in India. Currently there are lots of studies goes on regarding this and the company is trying to convince government that hybrid is the next step and it is the bridge towards electrification rather than going straight to electric cars.
Some of the mass market manufacturers like Maruti Suzuki and Toyota are working on localising hybrid and electric cars in India. Toyota already started assembling of Camry hybrid in India, while Maruti Suzuki offers mild hybrid system in its car now. Hyundai is India’s second biggest manufacturer and they are planning to introduce Kona electric SUV in India and it will be assembled in India.
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Volvo wants majority of its product to be electrified in India by 2020 as globally the Swedish manufacturer is moving towards complete electrification. Volvo will introduce its first fully electric vehicle next year globally. Usually the company introduce global models in India within 6 months, so we can expect the electric model to come in 2020.
The Swedish manufacturer want to sell more than million electric vehicles by 2025 and India will be one of the key contributors to achieve this target. Volvo Cars India is currently on a huge rise thanks to launch of successful models like XC90, S90 and XC60. Among the new models, XC60 is the most popular one and the company registered 25% growth between January to March 2018.
Volvo will soon launch XC40 in India and some other models are also in the pipeline, so Frump is confident that the company will increase its market share to 10%, which is a 50% growth from current 5% in next three years and the number of dealerships will be increased to over 40 by the same time.