Volvo opens 2nd boutique showroom in Prabhadevi

MUMBAI: Betting big on the rising affluent population in the city, Swedish luxury carmaker Volvo Wednesday opened its second boutique showroom in Prabhadevi under the ownership of KIFS Motors. The company which has been steadily increasing its market share in the luxury car market in India said that Mumbai contributes significantly to its overall sales in the country and its second showroom in the city highlights the focus of the company in one of the largest luxury car markets in India.

“South Mumbai has the largest population of affluent families in India and Volvo’s presence here raises the bar in the luxury car segment,” said Charles Frump, managing director, Volvo Car, India. With South Mumbai added, Volvo cars now have 25 showrooms across India.

A report released last year by market research firm New World Wealth (NWW) revealed that Mumbai was India’s most wealthy city with 46,000 millionaires holding a total wealth of $820 billion.

In 2018, Volvo Car India sold 2,638 units, indicating a growth of 30 per cent up from 2029 units sold in 2017. While the company spokesperson declined to give Mumbai-specific sales figures, he did say that the city was one of the most promising markets for the company with South Mumbai remaining the key driver of growth. Though its sales numbers were slightly lower when compared to other luxury carmakers like BMW, Mercedes Benz, Audi and JLR, it had managed to increase its market share from two to three per cent to seven per cent in the last three years.

Now, the company’s key focus was a shift from internal combustion (IC) engine to plug in hybrid vehicles – the closer cousins of electric vehicles, which were more environment-friendly.