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Volvo not in a hurry to set up assembly unit

CHENNAI: Swedish automobile maker Volvo is prepared to play a waiting game in the Indian luxury car space, even as it goes about creating a dealer infrastructure that is comparable to best quality-wise.

Paul de Voijs, Managing Director, Volvo Car India, said it was too early for Volvo to talk in terms of an assembly unit in India. “We need to have an idea about the volume. With less than one year into India, it is difficult to make an assessment on the assembly unit,” he added.

Volvo has been in the Indian luxury car space since March last. In 2008, it has sold 100 units. These were imported into the country in CBU (completely built unit) format. The Managing Director said the sales number this year could be more than 100 units. He said the luxury car segment tended to slow down a bit slower than other segments. Also, this segment was faster to pick up vis-À-vis others.

The Indian passenger car market is placed at 1.4 million units. Out of this, the sale of luxury cars is placed at around 8,000 units in 2008. “This is a very small portion when compared to other nations,” he said. Volvo, he said, would be seriously watching the volume growth in this space. Also, it would be keen to know where the import duty headed. These would be critical for Volvo to firm up its view on an assembly unit in India, he said. In this context, he said the European factories of Volvo “still have capacities to expand.”

Mr. Paul de Voijs said Volvo began with three dealers in India. It had added one more recently. “We are planning to have seven more, covering cities such as Kochi, Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Ahmedabad, Pune and Kolkata, to have a reasonable presence in the country,” he said.

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