Volvo Trucks launched its new flagship FH tractor range at the Hanover Show last September, the comprehensively revised FM range was launched at the UK CV Show and the FMX model, designed for construction work, also made its debut recently. What of the remaining models in the truck range? ‘We’re still missing the FL and FE from the European programme and that will be revealed not too long from now,’ says Mr Nilsson.
The FL is Volvo’s city distribution truck range and the FE the model designed for regional distribution, ‘We have Euro 6 soon and for that we will also come with an upgrade of the FL and FE. With that we will have a completely new programme,” he continues, “It’s not just new engines, it’s really major upgrades and completely new trucks. The FH is completely new and most of the components on the FM are new, either from the FH or completely dedicated to it.’
Like vehicle production of any kind today, shared componentry is the key to building a modern truck and there are shared chassis, modular cab construction and shared electronic architecture. Driveline components, such as engines and gearboxes are also shared across the range and in Volvo’s case with its Renault Trucks subsidiary. Some will also be shared with Volvo Trucks North American products, ‘Maybe not so much on cab and chassis, but more on the driveline components and electronics,’ says Mr Nilsson.
The coming Euro-6 legislation could be affecting buying patterns, ‘We see reactions from some customers, who are saying, “Now is the time to replace my truck with a new Euro-5.” They don’t see the benefit of paying for the extra cost of Euro-6. Some countries have different types of incentives, everything from investment incentives to tax incentives to move them quicker to Euro-6.’
The last major North American emissions round was in 2010. There was a slight lift in the US truck market last year, ‘Actually from a long term prospective, it has been relatively low for maybe 10 years or so, really sluggish,’ says Mr Nilsson, ‘Now we have adapted our activity to the market and we’re not sitting and waiting for a fantastic boom to arrive.’
The company is also active in other parts of the world, ‘Volvo Trucks has sold in China for a long time, maybe 1,000 trucks a year,’ continues Mr Nilsson, ‘Now we have announced that the Group has the intention to start a joint venture with Dong Feng, which would be a completely different ball game. It’s still under discussion. The hope is that out of that joint venture we can export more, that we could find components at a lower cost, or that we could integrate maybe in the European products.
‘The Chinese market is interesting enough to be involved in one way or another. It’s by far the biggest market in the world.’
Volvo Trucks has also been active in South America. Brazil has been an important market for the company. In Eastern Europe, the company has a plant in Russia, ‘We’re in a reasonably good position but there is still much more we can do,’ says Mr Nilsson, ‘We sold almost 7,000 trucks in Russia last year.
‘Then of course we have a lot of hopes for Africa and the Middle East. The Middle East has been strong for us for a long time. Now of course, many countries in Africa are starting to develop in interesting directions and we are there to explore all kinds of opportunities.’