STOCKHOLM, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Volvo Cars said on Wednesday that its new electric mid-sized SUV, the EX60, will have a similar price tag to the plug-in hybrid version of the same model, as the Swedish automaker dismissed concerns that any Greenland-linked U.S. tariffs could disrupt its plans.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he planned tariffs from February 1 on several European countries, including Sweden, over Greenland, a move major EU states criticised as blackmail.
Volvo exports the
majority of its U.S.-bound cars from Europe.
The EX60 - which was launched on Tuesday in Stockholm - will be built at Volvo’s Gothenburg plant and would be affected if the tariffs were enacted. However, Chief Executive Håkan Samuelsson dismissed the risk and ruled out further production shifts.
“New tariffs are not decided by a Truth Social media account. Let’s see if it comes. I have doubts something will come out of this,” he told Reuters. Samuelsson said Volvo still expected to achieve both price parity and margin parity between the EX60 and the plug-in hybrid XC60 across markets, including the United States.
"Most of the big plug-ins also have 15% duty, so it should be margin parity everywhere, I don't see any difference."
The EX60 will start at 62,990 euros ($73,755) in Germany, compared to around 67,990 euros for Volvo's best-selling XC60.
High price tags have been a major barrier to broader EV adoption, with electric cars on average costing around 30% more than comparable combustion models. The EX60 will be launched in Europe this summer before reaching the U.S. later in the year. However, it will not initially come to the fiercely competitive Chinese market, following a similar strategy to that of sister brand Polestar.
Volvo, majority-owned by China’s Geely, has scaled back its push to go fully electric after slower demand and delays to the EX30 and EX90.
Fully-electric cars currently account for just over 20% of sales but Samuelsson hopes the EX60 will become a major volume driver, winning over "electric doubters" with its long range, reasonable price and "coffee-break length" charging time.
($1 = 0.8540 euros)
(Reporting by Marie Mannes; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
