Volvo Cars announced that it will start building models in a new assembly facility in India, starting from this year.
The new assembly operations will be located near Bangalore in southern India and will build cars based on the company’s SPA modular platform, starting with the XC90.
The decision to start assembling models in India comes after an initiative of the Indian government which wants to promote the local manufacturing expertise, with Volvo to market its models as ‘Made In India’.
“I am pleased that as of this year we will be able to start selling Volvos that are Made in India,” said Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief executive of Volvo Cars. “Starting vehicle assembly in India is an important step for Volvo Cars as we aim to grow our sales in this fast-growing market and double our market share in the premium segment in coming years.”
The Indian premium market is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years and Volvo already has a share of nearly 5 percent there, aiming to double it by 2020.
Volvo sold over 1,400 cars in India in 2016, an increase of 24 percent compared to 2015. Year-on-year sales growth in the first four months of 2017 amounted to more than 35 percent.
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