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Swedish luxury carmaker Volvo is in talks with Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), Hindustan Motors (HM) and General Motors (GM) India to explore the feasibility of utilising one of their facilities to locally assemble its vehicles in India.
According to industry sources, the company, which has been selling luxury cars and SUVs in India through imports, is keen to start assembling its vehicles in the country in order to bring down prices and shore up volumes.
While Volvo Auto India (VAI), M&M and HM declined to comment, GM India Vice-President P Balendran said, "It is just speculation. We have decided to increase exports significantly and our capacities will be utilised for that."
However, sources said that Volvo, which is aiming to garner about 15% of the luxury car market in India in about five years' time, would not be able to achieve the target unless it starts assembling its vehicles in India.
"They are keen to have a local assembly but they have not yet taken a final decision on whether to set up an assembly unit of their own or outsource it to a third party. The project is in the initial stages only," a source said.
Volvo entered India in 2007 and sells models, including sedans, the S80 and S60; SUVs, XC60 and XC90 along with the V40 Cross Country.
The company has dealerships in New Delhi, Gurgaon, Ahmedabad, Surat, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Kochi, Vishakhapatnam and Pune.
