Volvo Auto India is planning to consolidate its position in the premium car segment in India in the current year and has kicked off plans by launching the new Volvo S80. It boasts an exclusive design with top-class fuel efficiency and safety features. The car is priced at Rs. 38.79 lakh (ex-Mumbai) and Rs. 37 lakh (ex-Delhi) and is offered in nine colours.
Volvo, headquartered in Sweden, currently sells two models, the Volvo sports utility vehicle (SUV) XC90 and Volvo S80 in India. It plans to launch the XC60 and S60.
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Addressing the media, Paul De Voijs, Managing Director, Volvo Auto India, said, “We will launch the XC60 around mid-year and the S60 sedan in early 2011. We are not in the numbers game and will continue to focus on quality.”
Mr. De Voijs told The Hindu that the company at present had no plans to set up a manufacturing base here. “The numbers do not justify it yet and we will continue to import CBUs (completely built units). The duty structure is such that even if we import completely knocked down (CKD) kits and assemble the vehicles here, it would not make much of a difference in terms of costs.”
The company now has seven dealerships in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Chennai and Pune. It plans to expand this by opening dealerships in Bangalore, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and in Tier II cities like Goa and Coimbatore.
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Further, Mr. de Voijs said “Our mission was to develop a modern diesel engine — with the benefits that go with them — which also meets the emission Euro 5 norms.” The new S80 has a new 2.4 litre diesel engine which delivers a fuel efficiency of 13.09 km a litre and the D5 engine has the latest twin turbo and Peizo high-pressure technology. It also offers rear seat entertainment with a dual DVD screen, GPS navigation system and an anti-theft personal communicator. Volvo offers the diesel particulate filter (DPF) feature across all its diesel models.