Volvo Trucks

Volvo Trucks

Type	Subsidiary of AB Volvo
Industry	Manufacturing
Founded	1928
Headquarters	Gothenburg Sweden
Key people	Claes Nilsson (President and CEO)
Products	Trucks
Employees	18,997 (Q3 2011)
Parent	Volvo
Website	www.volvo.com/trucks/

Volvo L495 Titan Truck 1965

Volvo Trucks (sv: Volvo Lastvagnar) is a global truck manufacturer based in Sweden, owned by Volvo Group - AB Volvo it is the world's second largest heavy-duty truck brand.

The first Volvo truck rolled off the production lines in 1928 and in 2011 Volvo Trucks employed about 19,000 people around the world. With global headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden, Volvo manufactures and assembles its trucks in 15 countries. Volvo Trucks produces and sells over 100,000 units annually.

Volvo Trucks sister truck companies in the Volvo Group includes, Renault Trucks, Mack Trucks and UD Trucks (Nissan Diesel Trucks).

History

When Volvo manufactured its first automobiles in 1927, the first truck was already on the drawing table and in early 1928, the LV series 1 was presented to the public. Though it, by modern standards, was merely a truck, it was an immediate success and 500 units were sold before the summer. It had a 2.0 L 4-cylinder engine rated at 28 hp (21 kW).

Volvo Trucks worldwide

Volvo cabs are manufactured in the north of Sweden in Umeå and Ghent, Belgium, while the engines are made in the central town of Skövde. Among some smaller facilities Volvo has assembly plants in Sweden (Gothenburg - also the Head Office), Belgium, USA, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, China, India and Russia, making it a truly global producer. Some of the smaller factories are jointly owned. Its main parts distribution centre is located in Gent Belgium. The sales side is split into three areas – Europe Middle East, Americas and Asia Pacific The offices and dealers are set up worldwide in Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa and Middle East, Asia and Pacific.

Production facilities

Volvo LV63 Truck 1929

Volvo F88-49T Truck 1970

As a part of environmental approach Volvo Trucks have focused on making sure that production methods, factories and transports to and from the plants are continuously improved regarding the environmental impact. Volvo Trucks were the first company to build a CO2 neutral factory, cab plant in Umeå has the lowest solvent emissions in our industry and working to establish more CO2 neutral dealers. Over the next few years Volvo Trucks will expand this work globally to cover as much of the production as possible.

Plants where Volvo trucks are manufactured:

• New River Valley, USA
• Curitiba, Brazil
• Umeå, Sweden
• Göteborg, Sweden
• Ghent, Belgium
• Kaluga, Russia
• Durban, South Africa
• Bangalore, India
• Bangkok, Thailand
• Brisbane, Australia
• Casablanca, Morocco
• Tunis, Tunisia
• Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
• Teheran, Iran
• Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• Taipei, Taiwan

North America

The purchase of White turned out to be a very good step for Volvo. Suddenly the Volvo trucks could be marketed throughout the USA, in parallel with a tailor-made programme of modern American heavy-duty trucks.When Volvo took over the truck assets of White, the White/Autocar/Western Star product programme consisted of the Road Boss (conventional) truck, the Road Commander 2 (cab-over engine) truck, the low-built Road Xpeditor 2 (cab-over engine) truck, the Autocar DC (heavy duty construction) truck, the Road Constructor 2 (construction) truck and the Western Star (long-distance conventional and cab-over engine) trucks.

During the 1980s, improved versions of these trucks were introduced, like the Integral Sleeper (1982) long-distance truck, the Conventional (1983) upgraded Conventional truck, the Autocar DS (1984) successor to the Road Constructor 2, the Integral Tall Sleeper (1985) truck which was the 'Globetrotter' of America, the aerodynamic 'Aero' (1987) truck, the Autocar (1987) construction truck with the option of using an integrated driveline (engine+gearbox+rear axle) designed and produced by Volvo and the short conventional WG (1988) truck.

Thanks to the vast resources and respected trade name of Volvo, the White (from 1981) and the WHITEGMC (from 1988) trucks were sold to an increasing number of American customers. Today, of course, all trucks produced by Volvo are sold under the 'Volvo' name (since 1995).Throughout the 1980s, Volvo produced White and Autocar, as well as distributing European-made Volvo. The White high cabover engine model was also badged a Western Star and sold through that company's Canadian dealer network.

On August 16, 1986, General Motors announced that heavy duty truck manufacturing in Pontiac, Michigan would be discontinued and that GM's American and Canadian large truck operations would be joined with the Greensboro, North Carolina-based Volvo White Truck Corporation by 1988. The new company, to be based in Greensboro, would be called Volvo G.M. Heavy Truck Corporation and began marketing the Volvo WhiteGMC badge, although all of the legacy GMC product lines were discontinued by 1990.

In 1997 the Volvo WhiteGMC name was discontinued, and all models were badged either Volvo or Autocar. In 2000, the remaining Autocar products were discontinued, and the nameplate was retired (temporarily) after over 100 years.

In a merger announced April 25, 2000, Volvo acquired Renault Véhicules Industriels, including Mack Trucks in North America. The deal would make Volvo Group the second largest truck manufacturer in the world, and the largest in Europe. In order to secure the approval of the authorities to proceed with the merger, Volvo had to agree to divest of its low-cab-over (LCOE) models, known as the Xpeditor range, due to the degree the combination of this product with the Mack MR and LE series dominated the refuse markets in which these vehicles are predominantly used. Volvo would re-enter the LCF market in 2007 with the purchase of UD Nissan Diesel.

In 2001, Volvo divested of the Xpeditor product and the rights to the Autocar trademark. The purchaser was Grand Vehicle Works LLC, a private equity venture based in Hagerstown, Indiana that also produced stripped chassis for vans and recreational vehicles, and walk-in van bodies for parcel delivery service.^{[citation needed]}

In 2009, Volvo began to relocate the operations of its Mack Trucks subsidiary to Greensboro, where the North American operations of Volvo Trucks have been headquartered.

Today, Volvo produces Volvo and Mack class 8 truck models at plants in Dublin, Virginia, and Macungie, Pennsylvania. Affiliate Volvo Powertrain produces engines and transmissions at its Hagerstown, Maryland, facility, for use exclusively in the North American market.

Export markets

Volvo Trucks are exported to and sold by more than 1800 dealers in more than 140 countries.

Volvo product range

Current product line-up (as of January 2012)

• Volvo FL
  • markets - Europe, Middle East
• Volvo FE
  • markets - Europe, Middle East, Australia
• Volvo FM
  • markets - Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, Oceania
• Volvo FH
  • markets - Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, Oceania
• Volvo FH16
  • markets - Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, Oceania
• Volvo FMX
  • markets - Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, Oceania
• Volvo VHD
  • markets - North America, Mexico
• Volvo VN
  • markets - North America, Mexico
• Volvo VM
  • markets - South America

Past products

1920s Series 1 and 2 Series 3 and 4

1930s LV66-s and LV68-s LV71-s and LV73-s LV75 LV76 - LV79 LV8 and LV9 LV18, LV19 and LV29 The "Sharpnose" TVA and TVB

1940s The "Roundnose" LV11 TVC LV15 and LV24 L29C and V

The (ex-China Motor Bus, Hong Kong) Volvo N10 Heavy Duty Recovery.

1950s L34 L39 and L49 L38 and L48 Viking TL11, TL12 and TL22 L36 and L37 TL31 L42 and L43

1960s The "Laplander" L46, L47 and N84 L4751 and F85 L4851 and F86 L4951, F88 and G88 F82 and F83 N86 and N88

1970s F89 and G89 F82S and F83S N7, N10 and N12 C3 F4 and F6 F10 and F12 F6S F7 Globetrotter

Volvo FL 6 from the mid-1990s

1980s CH230 White FL4 and FL6 FL7 and FL10 FS10 F10, F12 and F16 NL10 and NL12

1990s FE6 and FE7 North American models FS7 FH12 and FH16 FL12 ECT and FL6 Hybrid VN and NH FLC FM7, FM10 and FM12

Volvo VN US model

Volvo vhd model dump truck

2000s

• FH12 and FH16
• Volvo 80th Anniversary FH & FH16
• Volvo VN and NH
• Volvo FM9 and FM12
• Volvo FL6
• Volvo VT (based on the VN)

External links

• Volvo Trucks website
• Volvo Trucks history
• Volvo Trucks on Facebook
• Volvo Trucks on Twitter
• Volvo Trucks on YouTube
• Volvo Trucks on Flickr
• Volvo Trucks on Linkedin