The Indian unit of the Swedish luxury car maker Volvo Cars is planning to roll-out stripped-down versions of its popular cars in the Indian market. The move will be taken in order to boost its market share in the Indian luxury car market that has been dominated by German based BMW, Mercedes and Audi. Volvo Cars is currently owned by Chinese auto maker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co
In a recent statement, Tomas Ernberg, the newly appointed managing director of Volvo Auto India, said, "We may consider removing some features to be price competitive.”
At present, Volvo car are priced in the range of Rs 38 to Rs 55 lakh in the Indian market. The company imports all of its India portfolio cars from its base market, making these cars comparatively more expensive for Indian buyers with as excise duty of 110% applies. With the launch of stripped-down versions, the company will be able to reduce the price tag of its car, and thus will also enable these cars to compete more promptly with rivals like Mercedes, BMW and Audi.
The current line-up of the company in the Indian market includes Volvo S60, S80, XC60 and XC90.
