India is one of the locations under consideration for Volvo’s new electric vehicle manufacturing plant. This plant is to be based in Asia and according to a media report, India is amongst the leading contenders for the plant.
Volvo Cars Global CEO, Jim Rowan told the media that a final decision is yet to be taken. Amongst other South East Asian countries, India is also being considered for the location for this plant. Currently, Volvo does CKD assembly for its car in India.
This new factory will not just cater to the domestic market, but also will be used for exports. Hence one of the considerations for the location is not just the cost benefits but also a robust logistics network.
By the end of this decade, the Swedish carmaker will be an all-electric brand. To reach that stage, Volvo plans to launch one new EV every year for the next few years. In 2022, Volvo launched the XC40 Recharge in India, and now is gearing up to launch the C40 Recharge as well.
Volvo is also working on achieving carbon neutrality. To this effect, the carmaker will sell only electric vehicles. Infact by 2030, the Swedish brand will phase out the internal combustion engine from its portfolio. This means, even the hybrid vehicles will be phased out in favour of pure electric cars. This was shared by Volvo as part of its Global Climate Plan, which talks about decreasing the carbon footprint over the lifecycle of each car.
In other news, it has been almost 25 years since Volvo had a rear wheel drive on sale. Now, the Swedish carmaker is offering a rear wheel drive variant on the XC40 and C40 Recharge models. Sadly, there is no internal-combustion engine this time, but at least the all-electric vehicles come with rear wheel drive layouts. There are not one, but two RWD variants offered with both the models. These include a base 235 HP variant with a 69 kWh battery and a higher-end 248 HP version with a 82 kWh battery pack.
Also Read – Volvo reveals pure electric EX90 SUV.