Explore Business Standard
Swedish luxury carmaker Volvo will consider bringing plug-in hybrid vehicles in India if the tax structure is conducive, which is not so at present, a top official of its Indian arm said on Friday. Volvo Car India, which launched the refreshed version of its best selling model in India XC60 at an introductory price of Rs 71.9 lakh, believes that the entry of new players like Tesla is good for popularising electric vehicles, its Managing Director Jyoti Malhotra told reporters here. The refreshed XC60 is being assembled at the company's Bengaluru facility, he noted. "We have a range of mild hybrids and plug-in hybrids... Those are the range that we have in this car (XC60) globally... Our global portfolio has it but the Indian tax structure is not really conducive as of today," Malhotra said when asked if the company would consider the plug-in hybrid version of the model. He further noted,"If things change, we can always bring it. So we are keeping a close watch." Under the current
Indian Auto industry representatives are yet to leave for China to expedite the import of rare earth magnets as the delegation is still awaiting a formal go-ahead from the Chinese commerce ministry for a meeting, as per industry sources. Around 40-50 industry executives have received visas last month, but are still awaiting a formal nod from the Chinese authorities for the meetings on the matter. Staring at shortages, the domestic automobile industry has also sought government support in expediting approvals from China to import rare earth magnets. "They (Chinese authorities) have not given any appointment so far, so the delegation is yet to leave. Situation is bad as not even a single license has been issued to us so far," a source told PTI. If the situation remains like this, the domestic automobile industry will be staring at shortages resulting in significant production losses, the source added. The domestic auto industry is forced to take steps as the Chinese government has p