New Delhi, Sept. 6: Sweden’s Volvo Car Corporation today drove into the local market with two offerings — an S80 sedan and a sports utility vehicle XC90, carrying price tags of Rs 38 lakh and Rs 46 lakh, respectively.

The company is also planning to launch its second sedan in India by the end of next year. “We have to first test the waters and see how well these two models are accepted in the market. Next year, my guess is we will probably roll out another sedan,” said Paul de Voijs, managing director of Volvo Car India. He, however, did not reveal the model.

Globally, the company sells sedans, the V range of vehicles, cross-country SUVs and coupe and convertibles.

Volvo imports vehicles in completely built units from its plant in Sweden.

The company has introduced two petrol (3.2 litre and 4.4 litre) and one diesel (2.5 litre) variant in both the models.

“India is a very exciting market and the high-end car segment is growing exponentially here. Now is the perfect time to enter the market,” said Voijs. The company will have a dealer each in Chandigarh, Mumbai and Delhi and another seven to nine dealers by the end of 2008, he said.

The petrol variant of the S80 sedan will be priced at Rs 38 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), while the diesel variant will be cheaper by a lakh. The petrol version of SUV X90 will cost Rs 46 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) and the diesel version will be cheaper by a lakh.

Analysts said the S80 sedan would face stiff competition from the BMW 5-series, priced between Rs 37-42 lakh, while the SUV XC90 would compete with the Audi Q7, BMW X5 and Mercedes M Class. “We want to study the market in the first year and will then review our business model,” Voijs added.