Accelerating Growth!

Volvo Cars is aiming to double its market share in the Indian luxury car segment to ten percent by 2020 while placing electrification at the core of its future business, says Charles Frump, Managing Director, Volvo Auto India.

- Niranjan Mudholkar

Charles Frump took charge as the Managing Director of Volvo Auto India in October 2017. It’s not really a long duration of time. But given the fact that Volvo Cars has seen quite a few things happening in this short period, it has given Frump an opportunity to get acclimatised to the market quickly. And that’s why, he calls this short journey ‘very exciting so far’. “Commencement of local assembly, expansion of dealership network in Ludhiana and launch of our next-generation XC60 - we have seen a lot of action in such a little time. In addition to all of this, it was very satisfying to see Volvo cars ending 2017 with a record 28 percent growth,” he shares.

Throughout his career, Frump has worked in many different markets including Japan, China, the US, and Sweden. Of course, every market is different and so is India. “India is one of the most promising luxury car markets in the world and thus, extremely important for us. Though the luxury car market here is still at a nascent stage, the recent industry sales performance has shown that potential for growth is huge. Our plan here is very simple. It is to continue and accelerate the robust growth for Volvo cars in India,” Frump believes.

The roll out of the first ‘Made in India’ Volvo Car is a significant milestone for the Company. And for Frump personally, it is even more significant since it coincided with his taking charge. He says: “The rollout of our first locally assembled Volvo Car speaks volumes for the company’s commitment to grow further in India. The last three years have been good for us in India and we noticed a positive and encouraging growth in terms of increased segment share, world-class product and new dealer appointments.”