Volvo Cars plans to assemble two more models in India this year

Press Trust of India  |  Stockholm 

Swedish automaker Cars plans to locally assemble two more models -- XC 60 and V 90 Cross Country -- in to strengthen business in the country.

The company is also in the final stages of opening a parts warehouse in to help it supply spares to dealers at a faster clip.

"We are looking by mid-year for some addition of SPA (platform) cars in India," Car told in an interview here.

The cars on SPA platform, which are yet to be localised in are V90 Cross Country and XC 60, he added.

Cars began local assembly of XC 90 model from plant in October last year. This month it started local assembly of S 90 model from the facility.

Both, the models are also based on the company's platform.

With an aim to enhance speedy parts supplies to service centre, Frump said the company will be investing in central parts warehouse in and expand plant as well.

"Overnight we can get parts to all our dealerships instead of getting them shipped from Its a huge advantage," he added.

He, however, did not share location and investment details about the project.

When asked about new launches he said the company would drive in XC 40 model in by July-August this year.

"The biggest gap that we have here (portfolio) is that we don't have a small SUV and XC 40 fills that gap," Frump said.

Cars also plans to expand its sales network in with plans to open one dealership every month this year.

"Right now we have 21 dealerships and we will get to 29 stores by the end of this year. So that will give us full coverage of India," Frump said.

has been able to position itself in as a clear alternative to German companies such as Mercedes-Benz, and Audi, he claimed.

"People who have owned a German car have now also started looking at us for their second car," Frump said.

With enhanced product portfolio and sales network the company aims maintain double digit sales growth this year as well in the country.

Cars sold around 2,000 units last year. Sales grew by 28 per cent in 2017 as compared with 2016.

In India, the company has set an aim of garnering a market share of 10 per cent in the luxury segment by 2020. It currently has over 5 per cent share in the segment which is pegged at around 40,000 units per annum.

Globally, the company sold a total of 5.71 lakh units last year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Thu, April 19 2018. 13:15 IST