Volvo have launched their all-new XC90 SUV in India. Customers can book the car by forking out INR 500,000 as down-payment, although the deliveries won’t commence before September. The XC90 will be brought in as a CBU (Completely Built-Up Unit) since Volvo are yet to open an assembling facility in India.
Naturally, the current XC90 has been discontinued from the market. Volvo India hope to sell around 400 units of the updated model by December and import a thousand more in 2016.
Two variants of the car have been launched right now – the Inscription variant and the Momentum variant. The former is priced at INR 7.79 million, while the latter is priced at INR 6.49 million (both ex-showroom, Mumbai, pre-Octroi). The T8 Hybrid version, R-Design and the Excellence could be launched in India in the second-half of 2016.
The new XC90 is based on Volvo’s SPA platform. The car has been completely revamped with both its interior and exterior design having improved. It is said that “around ninety per cent” of the components in the XC90 are “new and unique”.
The XC90 will be powered by a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-charged D5 diesel engine, capable of producing 225 hp and 470 Nm of torque. The power will be transmitted to all the wheels of the car via an 8-speed automatic gearbox. Moreover, the XC90 has safety features like run-off road protection and auto-braking at intersection that have never been seen in a vehicle before.
“The new XC90 marks the beginning of a new chapter for Volvo Cars, capturing its future design direction, incorporating its own range of new technologies and utilizing its new Scalable Product Architecture (SPA),” Volvo Auto India Managing Director, Tomas Ernberg said.
He further added, “We hope to sell anywhere between 350 and 400 units of the XC90 between September and December”.
Volvo sold 1,200 cars in India in 2014. This means that their share in the luxury car industry stands at somewhere around five percent. This year, however, the Swedish car manufacturer is aiming to sell at-least 2,000 units with four new launches planned. At present five models are sold in the country- S80, S60, XC90, V40 Cross Country and XC60, while there are 13 Volvo dealerships across India.
