Volvo to sell cheaper variants to acquire numbers

Also expecting gains from the Indo-European FTA

Swedish car maker Volvo which is currently owned by the Chinese auto maker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co is planning on launching cheaper variants of the existing cars like the S60 and S80 to compete with the likes of Audi, BMW and Mercedes Benz. Currently all the cars from Volvo are brought here under the CBU route thus making the cars more expensive then the competitors which have their own assembly plants and cut costs by using the CKD route. The cheaper variants would be targeted at the fleet owners and corporate customers. These variants are expected to be here in the first quarter of 2012.

With a very small market share in the buzzing luxury car market, Volvo is also expecting much needed tax benefits from the proposed India-European Union Free Trade Agreement which is under talks. Under this proposal is an intention to halve the customs duty on imports of CBU cars from Europe to 30 per cent from 60 percent , in accordance to which Volvo may plan on setting up an assembly line here in India.

Currently Volvo’s product line includes four cars – S60, S80, XC60 and XC 90. With the luxury car market booming with sales touching close to 20,000, Volvo plans on selling 400 cars this year.