Is the Volvo XC40 electric SUV priced to compete?

There is the Hyundai IONIQ 5 and Mercedes EQA snapping at its heels.

The Volvo XC40 Recharge all-electric compact SUV has just opened for booking in Malaysia and its selling price of RM 262,000 puts it right in the middle of the very competitive electric vehicle segment right now.

When Volvo Cars Global made a bold undertaking a few years ago to go fully electric across its lineup, most of its dealers in Malaysia were a little worried. Lack of charging infrastructure and infant knowledge about electric vehicles with buyers might reduce showroom traffic and profits.

Well, when the Malaysian government announced last year the removal of import duties on all-electric vehicles for two years, all that changed. The market moved towards electric vehicles (EV) very quickly to take advantage of ‘tax-free’ cars and middle class and rich buyers started reading up more about the joy of EV ownership (is there any?).

Mercedes-Benz and BMW were aggressive in promoting their soon to arrive electric vehicles and Hyundai made a bold attempt at launching their Kona EV. Demand for EVs moved slowly upwards and interest in EVs was surging.

Then the selling prices were shared. BMW’s iX price was RM 420k and Mercedes launched their EQA SUV for RM 278,000. Soon after, Hyundai Sime Darby launched the highly anticipated IONIQ 5 CUV which was priced from RM 199k to RM 268k. The market responded and bookings rose fast. In fact, in just 2 weeks there were more than 210 bookings for the IONIQ 5 and Mercedes was close behind with almost 200 bookings for the EQA.

Volvo Cars management was delayed in sharing their XC40 Recharge selling price at the launch 2 weeks earlier. Then yesterday they shared the price, RM 262k, which puts it right in between the IONIQ 5 and EQA.

Then there is news that the KIA EV6 is arriving later this month. KIA is a technology relative to Hyundai and so the EV6 pricing will be very close to the IONIQ 5 which might persuade some XC40 Recharge interest away. Why? Well, the XC40 electric carries the same looks as its petrol sibling, however, with the EV6, KIA has delivered a large and sleek looking electric car with much more cabin technology and comfort features. This could easily persuade some Volvo buyers to visit a KIA showroom instead for a larger and better-equipped EV as long as snob appeal is removed.

Add to the fact that Volvo is locally assembled, it is the first full EV to be locally assembled in Malaysia and the KIA EV6 comes imported from Korea making it slightly more desirable as there has always been a slight stigma against local assembled Malaysian vehicles.

So, it will be interesting to see the booking numbers of the Volvo XC40 Recharge in a month’s time against the IONIQ 5 and Mercedes EQA.

Also read: Volvo C40 coming soon to Malaysia