Swedish luxury automaker, Volvo (OTC:VLVLY) launched their new fully-electric EX30 SUV on Wednesday with two battery options and a starting price of around €36,000 ($38,500). The EX30 is Volvo’s smallest SUV to date and follows the unveiling of the larger electric EX90 in November.
"It's a small SUV doing Volvo things," CEO Jim Rowan said during the car's launch event in Milan, Italy.
The EX30’s €36,000 starting price compares with the over €40,000 price for Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)'s Model 3. Tesla has cut prices several times this year to try to boost demand as competition heats up among EV makers. Rowan however has said the group didn't need to follow Tesla on EV price cuts as market demand was healthy.
Volvo, with its ambitious goal of achieving 50% of its sales from electric vehicles by the middle of the decade and becoming a fully electric vehicle brand by 2030, has identified the EX30 as a significant business opportunity in the upcoming years.
"Customers get a premium fully electric SUV for a similar price to combustion engine-powered equivalents," the group said.
The EX30 will be produced in the Zhangjiakou plant in China - which is operated by Geely (OTC:GELYY), Volvo's controlling shareholder. - and is due to start later in 2023.
The new model is available to order in some markets including Europe with initial customers being able to expect delivery early 2024. Incidentally, the car will be delivered earlier than its larger EV SUV, EX90, which will start production in the first half of 2024 due to production delays.