Swedish luxury carmaker Volvo Cars is examining possibilities to set up a new manufacturing facility in Asia, outside of China as sales of electric vehicles (EV) are expected to accelerate this year, according to a report by the Economic Times. EV sales is expected to surge on the back of development of charging infrastructure and price parity with internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.
Volvo Cars’ Global CEO Jim Rowan said that while a final decision on the location of the new EV manufacturing unit is yet to be taken, India and Southeast Asian countries are among the contenders, as per the report.
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The facility being considered will be utilised to meet domestic requirements and ship vehicles to other markets globally. “We need to make sure that we can feed countries other than just India from that location. So we need to look at the logistics of that. And also the cost benefits,” said Rowan.
Volvo Cars, which plans to go all electric by the end of the decade, is also open to collaborating with a partner in the region for contract manufacturing, the report added. Last year, Volvo Cars announced plans to set up a new manufacturing facility in Slovakia to meet increased demand for its EVs in Europe and the US.
He noted the company believes that ICE vehicles and EVs will be at price parity by 2025, which will make EVs more affordable for a larger number of customers. "We will release one brand new electric car every year for the next few year,” Rowan added.
Volvo Cars currently sells the XC40 Recharge in India, priced at Rs 56.90 lakh (ex-showroom).
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