This file photo provided by Volvo Car Korea shows the all-electric EX90 SUV, which will be released in South Korea later in 2023
SEOUL, March 14 (Korea Bizwire) – Volvo Cars said Tuesday it is targeting a 20 percent on-year sales growth in South Korea this year helped by electric models and investments in local aftersales facilities.
The Sweden-based carmaker sold a total of 14,431 vehicles in Asia’s fourth-biggest economy in 2022, down 4 percent from 15,053 units a year earlier.
This year, Volvo has set a sales goal of 17,500 units and plans to invest 111 billion won (US$85 million) to expand showrooms, after-sales services centers and other services in South Korea, the company said in a statement.
It expects two electric models, the C40 Recharge and the electrified XC40 SUVs launched in Korea early last year, will help boost sales here this year amid a gradual slowdown in the pace of COVID-19 infections.
To strengthen its Korean EV lineup, Volvo plans to unveil the EX90 flagship SUV at the end of this year ahead of its planned launch here next year, Jim Rowan, president and CEO of Volvo Cars, said in a press conference held in Seoul.
Volvo Cars is the parent firm of Volvo Car Korea Co. Volvo Cars is 82 percent owned by Geely Automobile Holdings, China’s largest privately owned automotive group.
Volvo plans to introduce the EX90 SUV in Korea “in the not too distant future” for the first time among Asian markets, Nick Connor, head of Volvo’s Asia-Pacific regional operations, said at a press event in Seoul in September.
He said the model will be “a smash hit and resonate with Korean consumers.”
Jim Rowan, president and CEO of Volvo Cars, answers questions from reporters during a press conference at Hotel Shilla in central Seoul on March 14, 2023. (Yonhap)
Asked about the EX90′s battery system, Volvo CEO Rowan said the company will maintain its technology and battery partnerships with South Korean firms as it is “very important for the future.”
There are three major battery makers in Korea. They are LG Energy Solution, SK On and Samsung SDI Co.
Rowan said Volvo has battery partnerships with Chinese battery maker CATL and LG Energy Solution, but didn’t elaborate on what battery system will be installed in the EX90 to be sold in Korea.
Volvo said the C40 Recharge model is equipped with LG Energy Solution’s battery system but refused to clarify what battery system is installed in the electrified XC40 SUV.
As for the possibility of an online sales platform in Korea similar to the one in Britain, he went on to say the company will focus on providing a “seamless experience” to Korean customers.
The C40 Recharge is one of seven pure electric models to be released by Volvo Cars by 2030. Volvo aims to become fully electric by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2040.
A company is carbon neutral if it balances the carbon dioxide it releases into the atmosphere through its everyday activities with the amount it absorbs from the atmosphere.
(Yonhap)
