Volvo Car India, which launched the refreshed version of its best selling model XC60 in India at an introductory price of Rs 71.9 lakh, believes that the entry of new players like Tesla is good for popularising electric vehicles.
“We believe right now, with the current scale of our industry, CKD (completely knocked down) offers the best solution. That is what we already have, and we’ll continue to do that. As more benefits are seen and we anticipate bigger scale then we can evaluate others,” Volvo Car India Managing Director Jyoti Malhotra told PTI.
He was responding to a query on whether Volvo Car India is looking to avail of the benefits under the government’s Scheme to Promote Manufacturing of Electric Passenger Cars in India.
Under the scheme companies are allowed to import up to 8,000 electric four-wheeler units annually at a lower import duty of 15 per cent, against 70-100 per cent currently, provided they commit an investment of Rs 4,150 crore for setting up local manufacturing facilities.
Malhotra said there are various factors before taking “a call, and one of them is also the scale”, adding “we have so many benefits available in India. There are different ways we can make cars in India or import cars in India.”When asked about the increase in competition with the entry of the likes of Tesla in India, he said,”I would say we are not looking at anybody as a competitor. They are all different car makers, they are colleagues, they are all welcome to come. I think India needs more, the more the merrier.”Asserting that Indian customers need choice, Malhotra said,”We are a huge country. One good thing I can say is that in the last 6-7 months we have seen a lot of interest in electric cars, we have seen a lot of interest in new generation cars and I think it is good… So the entry (of Tesla) is good for the customers.”
On Volvo Car India’s sales growth of EVs, he said,”Within our own portfolio, almost one in four cars, roughly 25 per cent that we sell are electric cars, which is really very healthy…we will be bringing another electric car, EX30 later this year.”
The company currently sells two EV models — EC40 and EX40 — in India.
On the rare earth magnet shortage, Malhotra said,”We are doing assembly. We get our kits from other plants, so we are not directly impacted.”
On the refreshed XC60, he said it is being assembled at the company’s Bengaluru facility along with other models that the company sells in India, he noted.
When asked if the company would consider the plug-in hybrid version of the model, he told reporters,”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…
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