Volvo's outlook: Expecting a prosperous festival season for India's auto market

Delhi : Volvo, a Swedish automobile manufacturer, anticipates the next festival season to be "good" for India's automotive industry due to improved supply chain conditions and a strong economy. According to a senior executive of Volvo Car India, internal combustion engine (ICE) and electric vehicle prices are gradually becoming comparable. On Monday, Volvo Car India unveiled the C40 Recharge, the company's first entirely electric vehicle, in this country for an introductory price of Rs 61.25 lakh (taxes excluded). "In the past two years, there has been a pandemic. Then there were issues with the supply (chain). It appears typical this year... When it comes to the economy as a whole, people are generally fairly optimistic.

According to Jyoti Malhotra, managing director of Volvo Car India, "I think that (the holiday season) should be pretty fantastic. After experiencing a difficult road during the previous years, the luxury automobile segment sales are anticipated to rebound to the 2018 peak this year, he said, adding that the supply chain situation has improved, though not to the level it should have been.

He stated that the supply chain condition was "much better than last year" and emphasized that the domestic auto industry is anticipated to benefit from the upcoming festival season. Malhotra added that the cost of an ICE automobile and an electric car have been approaching one another on a transactional level. "In our opinion, the inflection point is most likely to occur between 2025 and 2026,"

The new electric vehicle will only be reserved online beginning on Tuesday, the business claims. The C40 recharge is the second electric vehicle model that Volvo Car India's Hosakote plant in Bengaluru has built, according to the company.