The Indian arm of Volvo, the well appreciated Swedish car maker, is working on brand awareness campaign and media build up of its much hyped V40 Cross Country compact crossover, which is due to be launched in the country soon. The revelation came through Tomas Ernburg, Managing Director (MD), Volvo India during an inauguration ceremony of the company's new retail outlet in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Ernburg affirmed that the Volvo V40 crossover could be launched in Indian imported luxury car market by the end of ongoing financial year 2012-13.
According to Tomas Ernburg, the Volvo V40 Cross Country is already available to car enthusiasts of Frankfurt and its launch in the country is imminent. The Swedish car maker acknowledges Indian turf as both a high potential and emerging auto market, which could be good for the company's growth prospects. Ernburg was in Coimbatore to inaugurate one of the company's biggest showrooms in the country and affirmed that Volvo India will make its new V40 a price competitive product somewhere around Rs. 25 lacs (ex-showroom price).
Reportedly, the Indian arm of Volvo had just one per cent market share in the domestic passenger car market and the company expects to increase that margin to 3 per cent by end of this year. Ernburg also said that Volvo India has started getting into rhythm and is beating some of its contemporaries as well on domestic turf.
Underlining the company's growth projection and estimated market share in the country, Tomas Ernburg, said, “Volvo India wants to be No.1 in India in the luxury segment and aims to capture 15 per cent market share by 2020 and would sell 20,000 cars then. It would gradually increase to 30,000 in 2025.” It has also been revealed that the Swedish auto major is entertaining the idea of increasing its annual production output by 100 per cent at 800,000 units, as against the present yield of 400,000 units per year.
Volvo cars are renowned all across the globe for their best in industry safety and security ratings. The yet-to-be launched Volvo V40 Cross Country compact crossover is claimed by the Sweden based auto maker to be one of the safest cars plying on roads worldwide, at present. Ernburg added that Volvo wanted to build a futuristic car laced with cutting-edge security attributes, which ensure that casualties and serious injuries could be avoided by driver and occupants, in case the car gets involved in an unfortunate road accident. Accordingly, the V40 Cross Country is the Swedish auto major's answer to the aforementioned goal.
Tomas Ernburg also revealed that Volvo is going to start manufacturing operations at its new production unit in China by next year. The MD sees Indian turf as a possible destination for Swedish auto major's new manufacturing division but underlined the idea to be solely possible by company's decision as a whole.
The upcoming Volvo V40 Cross Country compact crossover will be pitched against the likes of Mercedes Benz B Class Sports Tourer, BMW X1 and Audi Q3, upon its launch in the Indian premium car market. It is going to be an interesting tug of war between the 'World's Safest Car' and its three German blood counterparts.
