Saar: Volvo also unveiled the XC40 Plug-in Hybrid for the first time to the general public.

At the ongoing 2018 Beijing Motor Show, Volvo Cars made a big announced about its business plans from EVs (electric vehicles). The sensible Swedes mentioned that the company is targeting for fully electric cars to make up 50 per cent of its sales by 2025. That is a big task. Last year the company mentioned that all new models from 2019 will have at least on electrified powertrain in their variant list.

To generate half of its sales from pure electric cars, China will play a vital role. Like for several other carmakers, China is also Volvo’s largest individual market globally. Last year, the Swedish carmaker sold, for the first time, over 1 lakh units in China. The People’s Republic is not just the largest automotive market in the world, but also the largest market for EVs. The country also plans to have electrified vehicles to account for more than 20 per cent of the annual sales by the middle of next decade. This will surely help boost Volvo’s plans to achieve its own new sales target.

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While announcing the company’s sales targets for EVs, Håkan Samuelsson, president and CEO, Volvo Cars, said:

“Last year we made a commitment to electrification in preparation for an era beyond the internal combustion engine. Today we reinforce and expand that commitment in the world’s leading market for electrified cars. China’s electric future is Volvo Cars’ electric future.”

Volvo Cars also treated the onlookers with the T5 Plug-in Hybrid iteration of the company’s smallest SUV, the XC40. It is for the first time that this electrified XC40 made a public appearance. It is tipped to have a 1.5-litre, 3-cylinder petrol engine coupled with an electric motor. Reports suggest that petrol engine alone has 180PS on tap and the electric motor brings in 75PS more. Combined, they are rated to produce 250PS/400Nm.

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Volvo Cars will also launch the XC40 in India later this year. However, don’t expect the twin-engine setup to make it here so quickly. In all probability, it will be the D4 that will start the XC40’s innings in India. For the uninitiated, that’s the same engine that does duty in the S90 saloon, producing 190PS/400Nm, and comes mated to an 8-speed automatic. The Volvo XC40 surely has a lot going for itself as it has already garnered over 60,000 orders globally ever since it went on sale in late 2017.