Re-Volvo-ing around Luxury
Jyoti Malhotra MD, Volvo Car India, in conversation with IMPACT, speaks about retaining its Scandinavian roots while making the car aspirational for India
Q] What were the top things on agenda when you decided to give a facelift to the flagship Volvo car - Volvo XC90?
It’s never easy to improve on a highly successful, one of the most awarded and iconic cars. So, we first retained in essence what people loved- its bold and minimalistic quality while making it fresher. Talking about minimalism, the screen in the centre console is interactive now, the infotainment system is very intuitive, doesn’t have too many buttons like your iPhone, and is very Scandinavian. Another interesting aspect is that going forward we have many radars and cameras to ensure that the car doesn’t collide. It's not exactly a promise but our ambition in the long term to make sure no one gets killed or is seriously injured while driving a Volvo. We want to offer safe cars.
Q] Volvo XC90 base model is priced at Rs. 1.03 crore; how much are you spending on marketing it? Will we see an Indianised campaign for Volvo this time?We can’t disclose the numbers we are spending on marketing. But this is our flagship car and we are going to do the best we can. And we won’t Indianise the campaign, it is a Scandinavian brand, so we have Scandinavian content that we will use. And our agency partners will work with us to take it to the audience.
Q] India is seeing this luxury revolution of sorts, similar to what China witnessed in the 1980s. Are you also seeing that spurt in luxury car sales?
There are green indicators that people have started to splurge, for e.g., Rado is looking at India as its top market. The economy is growing, all eyes are on how the economic benefit will spread, GDP per capita will grow and the wealth will get better distributed. If you look at the income pyramid 5-10 years ago, it was very skewed, largely being bottom-heavy with barely much at the top. Now it has started to expand to all sides. If you have to buy a phone worth Rs 1 lakh, somehow you will still manage using the EMI option, but the same feat becomes a lot more difficult if you are purchasing something worth Rs 1 crore or Rs 50 lakhs. However, it is happening already and that is the best part; there is enough aspiration. When economic strength gets added to the mix, you will see a spurt in luxury car purchases too.
