Volvo Expanding Automotive Assembly Plans in India
The luxury car brand wants to take advantage of India’s budding manufacturing operations, hoping to show the world the country’s love of cars is as big as its landmass.
Volvo has unveiled plans to build assembly plants in India, wanting to capitalize on India's small but determined manufacturing state. The Swedish premium manufacturer isn't the only company that understands India's capacity for car building, and it hopes that this expansion will further boost sales.
Volvo started strong this year with a noticeable increase in sales, mainly due to its debut of two new cars; the company already wants to raise those numbers higher. The new plant will be opened close to Bangalore, and build Volvo's newest luxury automobiles. Volvo has big plans for expansion in the coming years, and it says that this is just the first step.
Volvo Cars will begin manufacturing the XC90 luxury SUV there, and plans to build more cars based on the SPA platform. The company is also in talks with its sister company Volvo Group to build a facility in Bangalore that will specialize in Volvo's heavy duty vehicles. Volvo is keeping the rest of its plans for India under wraps, but it obviously sees something in the growing nation; Volvo predicts that this expansion will increase its market share exponentially by 2020.
Either way, Volvo says that it is committed to India's automotive market. This is a far cry from General Motors's approach, as it just pulled its cars from the Indian market. Does GM know something that Volvo doesn't, or vice versa? Unfortunately, we'll have to wait a few years to find out which company regrets its decision.