NEW DELHI: Swedish luxury-car manufacturer Volvo Cars is betting on plug-in hybrid and electric technology over the conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) in the Indian market.
Volvo bets on plug-in hybrid and electric cars for India
The automaker, which has been aggressive in bringing its global models to India, will now not invest in diesel vehicles here. Instead, it will focus on electric cars and plug-in hybrids, which are electric vehicles that can also run on conventional fuels.
“We are now going fully after electric. Indians are talking a lot about electrification. We would like to skip the ICE investments and go straight towards electrification,” Richard Snijders, vice-president for the Asia-Pacific Region at Volvo Cars, said. “We expect to launch the first locally assembled plugin hybrid car within 18 months and probably an electric car in the next 12 months after that.”
Volvo Cars India managing director Charles Frump said the company was working on a plug-in hybrid. He was more specific on the launch plans, saying that it would likely launch locally produced XC90 SUV with plug-in hybrid technology in last quarter of this fiscal year. Volvo Cars is also confident that it will stop making “ICE-only” models from 2019.
Industry sources confirmed the company’s plans to bring in the high-end XC90 SUV with the plug-in hybrid technology. Also, it is considering launching the recently unveiled luxury sedan S60 in India.
With Wednesday’s launch of the new XC40, which is the cheapest SUV model in its stable, and healthy demand for the top-selling XC60, the company is targeting sales of 3,000 cars in India this year and 5,000 units annually by 2020. In the long term, its aim is 10,000 units a year, Snijders said.
Last year, it sold 2,029 vehicles in India, growing 28% from the previous year.
To sustain the growth momentum along with new model launches, Volvo Cars will add five dealerships to its network this year in India, taking the total count to 27.
