Swedish luxury carmaker Volvo revs up with EVs, eyes record sales in 2023

Earlier, its peak sales was in 2018, when it sold 2,600 cars

Swedish luxury carmaker Volvo is betting on electric vehicle (EV) launches in 2023 to reach a new milestone in India — the highest ever car sales.

Previously, its highest sales were at 2,600 cars in the year 2018.

Volvo Cars India on Monday launched the C40 Recharge in India, its second EV offering after the XC40 Recharge.

The C40 Recharge has been priced at Rs 61.25 lakh.

The XC40 Recharge has seen good response in the last seven to nine months, said Jyoti Malhotra, managing director (MD), Volvo Cars India.

Speaking to Business Standard, Malhotra revealed that the car has already garnered around 25 per cent share in the luxury EV market in India. It also contributes around 27 per cent of Volvo India’s sales.

With the C40 Recharge in its kitty, it expects sales to pick up in the second half of the year.

As such, the luxury EV market is growing — from 500-600 cars a year back, to 2,000 cars or so (expected this year).

Volvo has decided that it will only launch electric cars in India, and bring one EV per year.

Globally, the company has set a target to achieve 50 per cent sales from EVs by 2025 and 100 per cent by 2030.

With the XC40 Recharge, Volvo had gone for a direct-to-consumer model in India. Here, the company holds the inventory and has a central pool of cars. So, the customer can directly book a car online and Volvo will invoice the car to the person directly.

Malhotra said that the C40 Recharge would also be sold under the same model.

“We will have an omni-channel model in India. Retailers are still very important for us. They are part of the customer’s experiential journey like a test drive, or making deliveries,” Malhotra said.

He added that the company has 25 retail touch points across India, and around 25 service touch points. It aims to increase its service touch points across the country.