Volvo to build the XC40 Recharge in India
Volvo Cars India announced that it will locally assemble the upcoming XC40 Recharge EV at its facility in Hoskote near the city of Bangalore, Karnataka. The all-electric Volvo XC40 Recharge will be launched in India in July and the deliveries will commence in October 2022.
The Volvo factory in Hoskote started the local assembly in 2017. Currently, the plant produces the Volvo XC90, XC60, XC40 and S90, making this the first fully electric vehicle manufactured locally in India by Volvo. Although it bears mentioning that the Volvo XC90 runs on petrol but features a 48V mild-hybrid system, which started production there last year.
“We are committed to grow the Indian market and our plans to assemble our latest offering the XC40 Recharge at our plant in Bengaluru is a reflection of this resolute. The future of mobility is electric and as a company we have already stated that we will be an all-electric car company by 2030,” said Jyoti Malhotra, Managing Director, Volvo Car India, adding: “Our focus on local assembly is a step in this direction. Our current range of internal combustion engine cars are already being rolled out from Hosakote plant to the exacting safety and quality global benchmarks that Volvo is known for.”
Production of the XC40 Recharge is behind schedule due to the semiconductor shortage, but has already begun ramping up production in a number of places, such as Malaysia. The Volvo XC40 Recharge is currently available in two versions: one runs on a 300-kW all-wheel-drive system with a 78-kWh battery (75 kWh net) while the front-wheel-drive model features a 170-kW powertrain output and a 70-kWh battery (67 kWh net).
India has been attempting to build an EV economy for some time to deal with the emissions in the Southeast Asian nation. As a discussion sponsored by Berlin-based think-tank Agora showed, India not only wants to electrify its traffic, but also wants the cars and components to be assembled and built locally as far as possible. This has previously led to tension with Tesla, after Elon Musk had considered building a gigafactory in India, but ultimately decided against it after the Indian government regulated that the vehicles sold locally would also have to be produced there, meaning that the market would not take the BEVs coming out of the Shanghai gigafactory. Citroen is also looking to set up shop in India, marketing a compact EV to be released in 2023. The local vehicle manufacturer Mahindra has also set up a deal with Volkswagen to utilize their MEB platform.
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