Volvo Cars, a Swedish luxury carmaker, is gearing up to launch yet another electric car in India. In fact, the carmaker has vowed to go full electric in India by 2025 beating the previous timeline of 2030.
Volvo Cars have been launching locally assembled electric cars in India using the completely knocked down (CKD) route. It launched the XC40 Recharge last year with a price tag of INR 56.90 lacs (ex-showroom) which met with great demand from customers. Cut to now, it is planning to launch yet another electric car in the country dubbed the C40 in the fourth quarter of this calendar year.
According to the head of Volvo Cars in Asia Pacific Nick Conner, the pure BEV luxury car segment is small at the moment. The Swedish car maker is likely to become a BEV-only manufacturer before others turn to it. In fact, it has already been mentioned that by 2025, Volvo Cars in India will sell 100% electric cars.
Volvo Cars have already planned to go all-electric in Australia by 2026. Globally, it is expected to reach its goals by 2030. Circling back to the Indian shores, the carmaker has vowed to launch an electric car model every year to untap the fast-paced BEV potential. Its EX90 flagship model will go electric in the country after the C40 debuts. There’s also a small electric SUV yet unnamed that will make it to the Indian shores around 2025.
Volvo Cars have reported a jump in sales in India over the past couple of years. It sold a record-breaking 2,638 cars in 2018. There are expectations that the carmaker will be able to outrun the figures in 2023 citing heavy demand from customers. It sold 1,361 cars in 2020 followed by 1,721 cars in 2021 but didn’t mention any figure for 2022.
The makers have listed geopolitical challenges, the shortage of semiconductors, and the ongoing container shortage as some of the reasons why it had turbulent sales figures last year. At the moment, the carmaker has a 3 to 4 months waiting period on all its models which goes around the show, the demand, and the backlogs.
