Volvo likely to start local assembly, announcement soon

Earlier this year, we had reported that Volvo was looking for an Indian partner to setup a CKD plant in India. This would help the Swedish carmaker to start local assembly in the country and thus, price its products more aggressively. Recent media reports suggest that the manufacturer is close to making the final decision regarding its CKD plant in India and an official announcement is expected to be made sometime next week.

At the moment, Volvo brings all its cars into India through the CBU route. This results in the company paying higher import duties, thus pushing the final prices upwards. While the automaker does try to price its products aggressively, most cars in its portfolio are still priced a bit higher than their respective competitors.

However, Volvo has experienced increasing sales in the country over the past couple of years, owing to the latest generation model launches. The company recorded a growth of 11% last year, with its sales figures touching 1,584 units. Thus, Volvo now decided to start local assembly to make its products more competitively priced.

Source: Money Control