Volvo in India has had a strong 2023 backed by a robust 40 per cent growth from January to September 2023 but interestingly it is its EV portfolio that has grown in sales too while the Swedish carmaker aims to go all-electric by 2030. Speaking to us, Jyoti Malhotra, MD, Volvo Cars India told us that the luxury car maker will be having an EV focused strategy and its customers are also shifting to them.
While the XC60 is their best selling model, the all electric portfolio of XC40 Recharge and C40 Recharge contributed 27 per cent of the total volume. With this, Volvo Cars in India have a 22-23 percent market share in the luxury EV space.
The carmaker launched the XC40 Recharge single motor recently and the C40 Recharge last year. Malhotra said that compared to the mass market EV space, the electric luxury segment has grown more with faster adoption here. That is due to the fact that on an average, buyers own two to three cars and want one of them to be electric. Also the electric luxury car buyers are younger with an interest in EVs. For Volvo their ethos has been a minimalistic design along with safety and sustainability hence, the cars having a leather free interior while the C40 or even the XC40 Recharge having a clutter free cabin.
The C40 Recharge has a claimed range of 530km and for regular city usage, there is less anxiety with home charging twice a week being deemed enough for a typical city usage pattern. Also, with newer roads and highways, chargers are cropping up too.
For Volvo, the focus is on electrification as Malhotra said with plans to further expand the range with the EX30 set to come next year. Being evaluated for India launch in terms of the specification that it could be offered in, the EX30 would open Volvo to more buyers and would be positioned below the EX30. "Globally we are in the process of rolling out EX30 and we are evaluating to bring it as fast as possible being a different segment as it addresses a bigger segment" said Malhotra.
At the other end, Volvo Cars will also sell the XC90 flagship SUV since it also has a mild hybrid engine. "We will continue to offer the XC90 in mild hybrid and when we bring the EX90, both will continue depending on customers deciding," said Malhotra. He also said that between the XC40 mild hybrid and Recharge, there was a shift towards the EV hence the compact luxury SUV coming in an EV avatar while the current structure suits EVs more than hybrids in India. Hence, the Volvo Car India range would be mild hybrid and BEVs while the next year will see the EX30 being a crucial addition to their line-up.
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