Volvo Trucks

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Volvo Trucks
Subsidiary of the Volvo Group
Industry Manufacturing
Founded 1928
Headquarters Gothenburg, Sweden
Key people
 Claes Nilsson
(President) [1]
Products Trucks
Number of employees
 18,997 (Q3 2011) [2]
Parent Volvo
Website www.volvotrucks.com
Volvo L495 Titan Truck 1965

Volvo Trucks (Swedish: Volvo Lastbilar) is a global truck manufacturer based in Gothenburg, Sweden, owned by AB Volvo. It is the world's second largest heavy-duty truck brand.

Volvo Group was re-organized on January 1, 2012[3] and as a part of the process, Volvo Trucks ceased to be a separate company and was instead incorporated into Volvo Group Trucks, together with Volvo’s other truck brands.

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.[2]

Volvo Trucks' sister truck brands in the Volvo Group Trucks company include 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).[4]

Volvo Trucks worldwide

Volvo cabs are manufactured in the north of Sweden in Umeå and in 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. Some of the smaller factories are jointly owned. Its main parts distribution centre is located in Ghent, Belgium. The sales side, with their corresponding offices and dealers, is split into seven sales areas – Latin America, North America, Europe North, Europe South, Africa/Middle East, Japan and Asia/Oceania.[5]

Production facilities

Volvo LV63 Truck 1929
Volvo F88-49T Truck 1970

Plants where Volvo trucks are manufactured:[6]

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

North America

The purchase of White turned out to be a very good step for Volvo. Suddenly, Volvo's trucks could be marketed throughout the United States, 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.

File:1995 Volvo WG flatbed.jpg
1995 Volvo WG, the first year that this old White GMC truck was marketed as a Volvo

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.

Throughout the 1980s, Volvo produced White and Autocar, as well as distributing European-made Volvos. The White high cab-over-engine model was also badged a Western Star and sold through that company's Canadian dealer network.[7]

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, based in Greensboro, was called Volvo GM Heavy Truck Corporation[8] and began marketing the Volvo White GMC badge, although all of the legacy GMC product lines had been discontinued by 1990.

In 1997 the Volvo White GMC 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.[9] The deal made 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,[10] 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 re-entered the LCF market in 2007 with the purchase of UD Nissan Diesel.[11][12]

As a result of this ruling Volvo divested of the Xpeditor product and the rights to the Autocar trademark in 2001. The purchaser was Grand Vehicle Works LLC,[13] 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.[14]

Today, Volvo produces class 8 Volvo trucks in its Dublin, Virginia plant and class 8 Mack truck models in 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.[2]

Volvo product range

As a part of adapting to the new European Union Euro 6 engine environment requirements, Volvo Trucks renewed their truck range in 2012 and 2013. The biggest launch was the new Volvo FH in September 2012[15] The rest of the range were renewed in the spring of 2013.

Current product line-up (as of May 2013)[16]

Past products

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

1920s

1930s

1940s
Volvo FL 6 from the mid-1990s

1950s

1960s

1970s
Brand new 2016 Volvo VNL 670

1980s

1990s
Volvo VHD dump truck (US)

2000s

See also

References

  1. ↑ [1]. - President Volvo Trucks. - Retrieved: 2012-01-09
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 [2]. - Volvo Trucks Quick Facts. - Retrieved: 2012-01-09
  3. ↑ [3]. - Press release - Retrieved: 2013-05-07
  4. ↑ [4]. - Volvo Trucks History. - Retrieved: 2012-01-09
  5. ↑ [5]. - Volvo Trucks Dealers. - Retrieved: 2012-01-09
  6. ↑ [6]. - Manufacturing worldwide. - Retrieved: 2012-01-09
  7. ↑ [7]. - Volvo Trucks History, White. - Retrieved: 2012-01-09
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ [8]. - News article - Retrieved: 2013-05-07
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ [9]. - Press release - Retrieved: 2013-05-07
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