Volvo kicks off deliveries of locally manufactured C40 in India

Volvo Cars has launched deliveries of the C40 Recharge in India. This is the second electric car from the manufacturer in India, as the first locally-assembled XC40 Recharge electric model was introduced in July 2022.

The Swedish automaker assembles the C40 Recharge electric coupe SUV at its Hosakote facility in Bangalore, Karnataka. Sales of the C40 started on 4 September; however, the first vehicles were not handed over until the 14th. The price for the Indian-built XC40 starts at Rs 61.25 lakh (approx. €69.129)

At launch, the Volvo C40 Recharge is available with a 78 kWh battery with a WLTP-certified range of up to 540 km that can charge from 0-100 per cent capacity in half an hour on a 150 kW DC charging station. On an 11 kW level 2 charger, the process takes about 8 hours.

In terms of features, the electric car has a vertically-stacked 9.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, ADAS features, a wireless charger and a 360-degree camera.

Volvo is not the only international OEM to look at setting up a vehicle factory in India, as Tesla was recently found to be negotiating with the Indian government over lower import taxes should a factory be built there, while BYD was rejected from building a factory there in July. Hyundai Motor is also investing significant sums in the state of Tamil Nadu to set up EV production there. India’s homegrown EV industry is also taking off as Ola Electric’s scooter production picks up, and the Tata Group has larger vehicles and battery production covered.

The XC40 was originally introduced as a plug-in hybrid in 2018, although plans to fully electric the vehicle were present early on as well. The Recharge variant then hit the market in 2020, although the company continued to produce hybrid variants as well. It was only this summer that the Swedish company started taking their hybrid models off the market.

indiatimes.com, overdrive.in, cardekho.com, hindustantimes.com