Volvo to start local-assembly of the XC60 from August

Volvo already assembles the XC90 and the S90 at their manufacturing facility in Bengaluru.

In October last year, Volvo Auto India rolled out their first locally assembled car in India. Making use of Volvo Group’s existing facility in Bengaluru, Volvo Auto India commenced local assembly of their flagship SUV XC90. Less than a year from the date, Volvo is about to commence local assembly of their third product. The Swedish carmaker already assembles their flagship SUV XC90 and the sedan S90 in India, now they are about to add the XC60 to the list as well. When they commenced local assembly, the company announced they will start with all cars that are based on the Scalable Platform Architecture (SPA). All of the above-mentioned cars are based on this SPA platform.

Volvo brought in the XC60 in India in December last year. At the time, the mid-sized SUV was priced at Rs 55.90 lakh (ex-showroom). Given the equipment and safety tech on offer, the XC60, despite being brought in as a CBU, it was priced super aggressively. Keeping that in mind, the price of the XC60 is unlikely to see a drastic change even after local assembly commences. There will be no change in the XC60 sold so far, and the locally assembled one that will go on sale in August. The XC60 will continue with the same design and features. Powering the XC60 will also be the same 2.0-litre diesel motor that develops 232bhp and 480Nm. This engine comes paired with an 8-speed automatic transmission.

Local assembly of the XC60 and the launch of the smaller XC40 earlier today are huge steps from Volvo in achieving their target of doubling their market share by 2020. With the XC90, S90 and XC60 already being assembled here, Volvo’s is likely to have their eyes on the XC40 next and it will be the start of local assembly of products based on the CMA (Compact Modular Architecture) platform. Meanwhile, Volvo Auto India is also looking at expanding their dealer network in India.