india may not figure in volvos top10 car markets but the company remains doggedly determined to grow here ready to begin local assembly by the end of the year volvo auto india is not just looking at expanding its product portfolio but offering products which are at par with those in western countries looking to reduce carbon footprint in an interview with timesofindiacom tom von bonsdorff md volvo auto india reveals why future belongs to hybrid vehicles and how volvo can assist in indias dream of ditching fossil fuels by 2030 excerpts from the interview q china has pushed for hybrid and electric vehicles in a big way how do you see indias initiative in promoting clean fuels and vehicles it is very important for authorities in the country to design taxation policies whether it is road tax gst toll registration tax effectively so that people buy environmentallyfriendly cars the need is urgent because delhi air and air in severa other cities really needs it q indias environment minister recently said the country aims to be free of fossilfuelpowered cars by 2030 what is your take on it i think that it is a great ambition i think these type of ambitions really try to change us but 13 years is a very shor time and it requires some drastic change we need to kickstart activities to make sure that we can get there q what are volvos plans as far as hybrid and electric cars in india are concerned from our end well have hybrid powertrain in all our cars from now on in 2019 we will launch our first electric car in india we think we are ready for that development also we look to have about 25 showrooms by the end of the year so its a big rise in network expansion q will india get european trims in volvo cars or should we expect downgraded versions in terms of features interiors engine and the likes we are basically selling the same cars across the globe and i think that is going to stay that way so the same safety norms environmental friendliness norms design features remain constant everywhere including india of course you have local demands on what people want to have in their cars you dont need heated seats in south india whereas you need that in southern europe but when it comes to other features we definitely want to bring everything q volvo is soon going to begin locally assembling its cars in the country what was the reason behind a move which most rivals made some time back the luxury car segment is still small in india especially if you would compare it with china we may not be the biggest seller but then nobody else is either i am not really worried about if we have lost ground by not starting local assembly sooner i see that we have good potential to grow into our targets