Volvo Car India open to India partner in the future

livemint.com:

China), said the company's current focus is solely on its Bengaluru facility. “While we acknowledge the complexities surrounding ownership, that is an issue for the future. We will address it when the time comes," he said, replying to a question from Mint on the need for an Indian partner on the sidelines of a media interaction on Wednesday.

The Swedish passenger car manufacturer has a plant at Hoskote near Bengaluru, where it locally assembles all its models in India, namely the XC90, XC60, S90, XC40 Recharge, and the C40 Recharge. Volvo Cars India is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sweden's Swedish automaker group Volvo Cars AB. However, Chinese conglomerate Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co.

Ltd owns a 78.7% stake in the Volvo passenger car group firm, which doesn’t align well with the Indian government. In 2020, amidst escalating border tensions with China and the covid-19 pandemic, the Centre had imposed new restrictions on foreign direct investment (FDI) to prevent opportunistic takeovers of Indian companies. A press note was issued restricting investments from China, possibly including Hong Kong and other neighbouring countries, without prior governmental approval.

Consequently, this led MG Motors, previously majority-owned by Chinese stakeholders, to form a joint venture with Indian partner Sajjan Jindal’s JSW. Volvo is confident in the potential of the country as it aims to unveil one electric vehicle annually and achieve a fully electrified vehicle portfolio by 2030. The company has scheduled the release of the EX90 and EX30 in the next two years.