Swedish Luxury Automaker, Volvo has had a marvelous 26 years of journey in India. All these past years, have been a pioneer of combustive excellence, with the gloried history of market leading introductions, in which the models like XC90 and S90, holds a prominent significance in the success journey of this Swedish manufacturer.
With a total market share of 5% in Luxury Car segment of India, Volvo still dominates the Indian automotive industry in the premium range. However, looking at the last year’s stats, where 28% of sales was achieved in electric category, thanks to the models such as the XC40 Recharge, which solely had a sales figure of around 510 units; the brand has decided to go all-electric by 2030.
The announcement has popped up after, several Multinational Auto Brands (MNC’s) are leading towards global EV transition, as an environmentally conscious and a sustainable approach towards passenger mobility solutions.
The key markets, where Volvo shares a major dominance in EV space are United States of America (USA), Canada, several European countries like Germany, France and the UK. In recent years, China in the Asia-Pacific region has also joined the squad. Now, this list has registered a new name, which goes by India.
As the announcement has been official, India will join these burgeoning markets to hoist Volvo as a fully-electric brand by 2030. This decision, will guide Volvo to launch one EV, annually until the six consecutive years, the Swedish manufacturer phase out every ICE and Hybrid models from their lineup to transit as a fully-electric luxury car-brand.
Volvo’s strategy to expand their EV portfolio in the world’s third largest auto market, includes the introduction of two upcoming models, lined up for launch. The executives have announced, that the EC30 will be the first to hit the showrooms of India in 2025, with the high-end EC90 to follow. They also mentioned that a timeline for the release of the flagship electric model will be revealed soon.
Jyoti Malhotra, managing director of Volvo Car India has also released a statement on EC30’s launch. Jyoti has added, that the company holds about 22-23% share in sale of luxury EVs in the country with just two models, which will likely see a rise with the introduction of EC30 in the fleet.
Over, including India in the Volvo’s global EV expansion strategy, Martin Persson, head of Volvo Cars for the Asia Pacific (except China) region has highlighted that the Indian market is evolving similarly to Japan and Korea, with electric vehicle sales currently around 2%. However, EV penetration in India’s luxury segment stands at 7%, three times higher than the mass market.
He further added, that the luxury car market in India has a lot of potential for growth because more and more people are becoming millionaires. Persson also mentioned that Volvo is evaluating the scheme for manufacturing of electric cars announced by the government in March this year. The company, however, is yet to take a call on participating under the scheme.
