As we entered the Volvo hall to take a look at the cars and meet up with the Managing Director of Volvo India, we could see a parade of exquisitely gorgeous cars between big displays quoting “Scandinavian Design” and “Innovative Safety”. One might soon see these tag-lines in ads as Volvo C70 rolls in, ready to be driven on Indian streets. On enquiring we were told that the gentleman in question had just stepped out for a cigar. So we settled down and munched on candies before Mr. De Voijs, the Managing Director, turned up.
On being enquired about Volvo’s vision for India, he began by commenting on Volvo’s involvement in the international automobile luxury segment and how Volvo has been retaining a substantial part of this segment. He went on to say that 4 years back, bringing the Convertible Coupe C70 to Indian market would have been too early for the buyers to accept it. Waiting for another four years from now would be too late to capitalize on the rising middle-class and people interested in the upper-end luxury cars. “Now is the right time to enter India. Development of luxury in India is booming and new brands are creating growth for themselves. 2007 officially introduced BMW, Harley, Audi and Volkswagen to the Indian public. While Volvo was introduced in India 20 years back, it limited itself to usage for the diplomats. We want to extend it to the masses now.”
As the conversation wheeled towards the sales and distribution strategies for Volvo India, Mr. De Voijs informed us that the company anticipates a growth of about 4500 units by end of 2009 fiscal year, thus making a haul to about 9000 cars on Indian roads. “Brazil, Russia, India and China, all have gone through the same process of development and growth. While Volvo has not been successful in Brazil as the cars are not safe on the streets from muggers and thieves, our brand has been successful in Russia.” And what does he think about internet-based marketing? Did it ring a bell with Volvo? “We are concentrating a lot on web-based marketing. The young look of Volvo strikes a chord with the youngsters and influences them more and internet is the medium for such an audience….If you went to a dealership full with information and somebody else who did not have any information, then it becomes very helpful…all the free information makes the choice simpler, thanks to internet. It is a cheap and simpler source of advertising for us too. Though the fact still remains that India has a lot of impulse-buying. Especially for the higher-end cars.”
On the question of Volvo as a brand and the kind of customers who would identify with the same, the Managing Director of Volvo Car India typified the brand as very high in safety quotients and in luxury. “Volvo provides its average cars with in-house speakers, DVD players, LCD screens, refrigerators…all of that in the car.” On the mention of XC70 and whether the premium Estate will be introduced in India, he said, “XC70 is more an Estate car outside… It is more towards the Estate than towards cross-country even though we call it XC70. The market here is still not ready for XC70. If there is demand for Estates in the market, we will come out with that because even world-wide, we are leaders in Estates.” “A customer would relate to us when he is well-off and identifies with Volvo ideals: safety and value for life. Also the young people…executives, they are the ones who would want to achieve a certain position in life and money and now want to channelize it in luxuries.”
“How widespread will be the reach of the brand?” shot we. “As of now, we will be working with the three dealerships we already have in Delhi, Chandigarh and Mumbai. We started out with just three because we were new and wanted to make mistakes and learn. Now that we’ve been here for a while, spring of this year will see Volvo introduced in 7 to 9 cities, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Cochin, Jaipur, Pune, Hyderabad and Calcutta.” “Why more concentration in North India?” we resumed. He seemed to reflect a bit before the reply came, “North has a bigger purchasing power. At least that is what we thought before we entered the market. Now we will be reaching out to bigger strata.”
So Mr. De Voijs, how long before the customers will be able to drive around in their own Volvos? Stipulated delivery time? “Every Volvo car is customized, then I guess the wait will be for around 8 weeks. 4 weeks to get the car ready and another 4 to ship it to Chennai and then to the respective city. 7-8 weeks yeah! ” “We have a wide range of interiors and exteriors too…We don’t have just 4-5 combinations for the exteriors…we have more than 15 combinations for both” he finished with a twinkle in his eye and a smile to match. Ahem! Thanks!! Will start saving up soon.