'We hope to boost all our future cars with hybrid tech in two years'

Volvo Auto India launched India’s first plug-in hybrid SUV — XC90 T8, last week. The car offers three distinct driving modes — Pure, Hybrid and Power – and is built on Volvo’s Scalable Product Architecture (SPA), with the 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, which can be both supercharged, and turbocharged. The car also delivers 49 gram per kilometre (g/km) carbon dioxide, backed with an electric range of up to 40 km.

In conversation with Furquan Moharkan of Deccan Herald, Tom von Bonsdorff, Managing Director of Volvo Auto India, said that he hopes that the launch of the hybrid car triggers other manufacturers to start bringing in hybrid vehicles. Excerpts of the interview:

Has the recent whip on pollution by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) expedited your decision to bring a hybrid SUV into the Indian market?
I think it definitely has. We know that Delhi has the sad reputation of being the most polluted city in the world. We had a ban on diesel cars of two litres. So, these things motivated us to bring in the ‘cleanest’ SUV, because we can thereby impact the market and of course generate the customer interest for this car. The diesel ban itself didn’t impact us, because all our diesel engines are below two litres. But with the latest technology that we have, we thought, ‘why not bring it to India rather than keeping it away from India’. We want to contribute to our good sales and the environment. Hence, we were interested to bring the XC90 T8 here.

The car is priced Rs 1.25 crore. Given the fact that the per capita income of India is far lower than European countries, don’t you think that the car is overpriced?
I think the pricing is based on the technology it contains, with radars, and the luxury it has, and with the plug-in hybrid… So I think the price is well-placed. Obviously, it is an expensive car, which won’t cater to the average Indian consumer. But I think that this is a game-opener. Hopefully, it trigger other manufacturers to start bringing in hybrid cars.
 
Are you planning to introduce hybrid technology in the affordable car segment as well?
Yes, if everything goes well, I think we have the capability to bring it in next two years into all our future cars. In Europe, in countries with the highest penetration, there are tax benefits on environment-friendly cars, and I hope it would happen in India as well.
 
The new hybrid SUV delivers 49 g/km of carbon dioxide as per the European Cycle. What are its expected emission levels on Indian roads?
Well, the European Cycle that measures this is basically a theoretical cycle. All manufacturers use the same test cycle. And that gives the value of 49 g/km. That is on mixed driving — standing still, city speeds, and highway speed. And I don’t see that it should be any different in India. Once the test results come, we will share it, but the fact remains that this is, right now, the cleanest SUV in the market, and that is not going to change. It is a very environment-friendly car.
 
Given that it is a 7-seater SUV, one of the major markets in India for SUVs are the tier II and III cities, and the villages, given the family size. Volvo is focused on major metros right now. Any plans to cater to these markets?
We want to be in as many places as possible. Right now we have16 showrooms in the country and we will look into Jaipur, Lucknow, and Pune, this year. We really want to open up in more and more places. So you will hear more about our plans. Of course, you want to be both in the big cities, as well as smaller ones.
 
Any more launches in the pipeline in the next one year?
Yes, I think the most interesting launch coming up now is the S90 — our luxury sedan. We will be launching it by the end of this year.
 
We have a push for ‘Make in India’ right now, and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has made it easier to do business. So any expansion plans in India?
The way I see it is that we have had a 25-30% growth this year. If we can continue showing that we can see the Indian economy is growing 7% a year. I think the best way I can convince my management in Sweden to invest more in India, is to show good sales numbers and great potential.
 
What are your sales targets for this year?
We probably want to end up 25-30% higher than the last year, which probably means close to 2,000 cars.