AB Volvo is planning to buy more components for its truck and bus operations from India.
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Volvo’s Indian operations exported components worth EUR50m to other operations in the Volvo group in 2005, and this year expects this to reach EUR70m.
Speaking at the launch of the Volvo FH and FM truck ranges in India this week, Volvo India managing director Eric Leblanc said that Volvo had seen its sales in India grow 16% in the first five months of the year. For the future he expects demand growth to be encouraged by infrastructure improvements and new rules on over-loading.
“We see the high-performance segment expanding quickly on the stricter emission and safety rules, as well as improving infrastructure,” he said.
Volvo has invested around US$65m in India, according to Reuters. The company’s plant in Hoskote, near Bangalore, has an annual capacity of 1,200 trucks and buses. It sold 400 buses and 600 trucks in India last year. The plant also started producing city buses in January. The market for city buses in India is estimated to be around 10,000 units a year. Volvo India is also exporting buses to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and trucks to South Korea.
