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Volvo launches two products – S80 & SUV XC90
Starting prices of Rs. 38lakh and Rs. 45lakh
Swedish car major Volvo Car Corporation on Thursday forayed into the Indian market with two flagship products – S80 sedan and sports utility vehicle XC90 SUV – at starting prices of Rs. 38lakh and Rs. 45lakh, respectively. The company has introduced two petrol (3.2litre and 4.4litre) and one diesel (2.5litre) variants of both models. “India is an exciting market and the luxury car segment is growing exponentially here. Now is the perfect moment for us to enter the market,” Volvo Car India Managing Director Paul de Voijs told reporters here.
He said the company would start operations in India with three dealerships – in Chandigarh, Mumbai and Dellhi – and would scale it up yo nine by the end of 2008. The company will be importing the products as completely built units(CBUs) from its manufacturing plant in Sweden. While the S80 sedan petrol variant will be priced at Rs. 39lakh(ex showroom Delhi), the diesel variant will be cheaper by Rs. 1lakh, Mr. Voijs said. Similarity, the petrol version of SUV X90 will come for Rs. 46lakh (ex showroom Delhi) and the diesel version will cost Rs. 45lakh (ex showroom Delhi).
The S80 sedan would be pitched against BMW’s 5-series (priced around Rs. 37-42lakh), while the SUV XC90 will compete with the likes of Audi Q7, BMW X5 and Mercedes M Class (in the Rs. 60lakh plus category). Mr. Voijs, however, did not divulge the sales targets in India during the current fiscal. “We want to study the market in the first year and would then review our business model,” he added.