Volvo announces local assembly for India; XC90 to be first model

Volvo has announced that it will commence local assembly for the Indian market and that the XC90 will be the first vehicle under this new plan. The Chinese-owned Swedish automaker will make use of its Volvo Group India facility outside Bengaluru to assemble its cars. This facility already produces truck, bus, construction equipment and Penta engines.

The XC90 is underpinned by their flexible SPA architecture which is also the basis for other models like the S90, V90 as well as smaller models like the XC60 and S60. The company has indicated that more SPA underpinned models will be assembled in India in the future and we believe that the S90 will be the next one to join the lineup.

"We are delighted to announce the commencement of local assembly unit,” said Tom von Bonsdorff, managing director, Volvo Auto India. “It’s a sign of the company’s strong commitment in India. Backed by a robust sales growth, expanding network and an array of new product launches, the local assembly will provide us an impetus to garner a sizeable segment share in the medium to long term. Each locally assembled Volvo car will have same international standards as anywhere else in the world. With our continued efforts we are sure to build a strong foundation for our business in India.”

The XC90, in this current generation, is Volvo’s most popular selling model and assembling it locally will automatically drop its price. This will allow Volvo to bring in mid-level trim options making the XC90 available across a wider price range. The company aims to have a 5 per cent market share in the Indian luxury segment by 2020 and these locally assembled models are expected to aid in this direction massively. Finally, the SUV boom means Volvo will now be able to give its flagship product a competitive edge to take on the likes of the Mercedes-Benz GLS, Audi Q7 and BMW X5.