MUMBAI: Volvo Auto India, the Swedish luxury car maker on the fringes of the Indian market, will be banking on range of hybrid and electric cars to be rolled out in the coming years to challenge the top three German luxury car makers -Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi -in the country .
Volvo plans to double its market share to 10% by 2020 and is considering bringing in electric and hybrid vehicle options across the portfolio right from its entry car to the top of the line one in the next three years and if volumes grow, they may also be assembled in the country eventually.
Volvo India’s XC90 plug hybrid launched a month ago has already seen over 50 bookings for the model and in 2017 it plans to roll out the plug-in hybrid model of S90, making it the first luxury car maker to bring in hybrid model in the mainstream sedan space.
Eventually , the company is likely to have 4-5 hybrid and electric vehicles in the country by the end of the decade.
Launching the new Volvo S 90 last week, Tom Von Bonsdorff, managing director, Volvo Auto India told ET, that he sees hybrid portfolio as a key differentiator.
“I really hope Hybrids can be called our thing. We have the capability of employing the technology in all our cars and if we are able to have a good Hybrid offering, we can eventually get a better ranking in the premium segment,“ Bonsdorff said.
Volvo plans hybrid, electric cars to take on German rivals in India