Volvo expects China to become its largest market in 2014
Volvo Car, the Swedish luxury carmaker owned by Zhejiang Geely, said it expects China to surpass the United States as its largest market this year.
Volvo Car, the Swedish luxury carmaker owned by Zhejiang Geely, said it expects China to surpass the United States as its largest market this year.
Volvo would probably outpace the estimated 20 per cent growth in China's luxury-car sales this year and deliver at least 80,000 vehicles in the country, it said. The carmaker will also make the XC Classic, a Chinese variant of the XC90 that will cease production in Sweden this year, at its plant in Daqing.
The company, which built a reputation around safety and reliability, is in the midst of a four-year, €11 billion (HK$118 billion) project to develop new models after the sale by Ford Motor in 2010.
Volvo plans to almost double deliveries to 800,000 vehicles by 2020. That compares to a goal by luxury-car industry leader Bayerische Motoren Werke to sell two million cars this year.
The Swedish carmaker, which is separate from truck producer Volvo AB, is displaying a plug-in hybrid version of the long-wheelbase S60 at the Beijing show. The vehicle will go into production next year at the firm's plant in Chengdu, which started making the S60L late last year.
Volvo is preparing to present a revamped XC90 sport utility vehicle, its first model engineered under Chinese ownership, this year. The car will feature a touch-screen display using Apple's CarPlay communications system.