Volvo 2006 Annual Report Download - page 68

Volvo Trucks
– developing transport solutions
>>> A common cut flower has a “vase life” of
about one week. This means that it loses
around 15% in value in just one day. “It is
i mport ant to be quick, real quick,” says Piet
Visser before jumping into the cab of his brand
new Volvo FH.
Piet works as a driver for flower export com-
pany Hilverda De Boer, which transports fresh
flowers from flower auctions in Amsterdam to
customers throughout Europe.
Volvo Trucks supplies complete transporta-
tion solutions to professional and commercial
customers in more than 130 countries world-
wide. The largest markets are Europe and
North America.
The company has a complete product offer-
ing of medium to heavy trucks with a strong
global network of 3,000 service operations. In
2006, Volvo Trucks sold more than 105,000
trucks worldwide, which is a record amount in
the company’s history.
Driving progress within the area of transpor-
tation is a central and strategic goal. This
includes everything from creating new con-
cepts and ideas that are based on customers’
requirements and benefits to society.
Trucks are not profitable. Drivers are. No one
knows this better than Volvo Truck’s custom-
ers. Around the clock, goods, reputation and
profits are literally in the hands of the drivers.
Volvo Trucks has a very strong global pos-
ition, particularly with regard to long-distance
Every second, day and night, a truck arrives with its cargo. Trans-
portation is one of the vital areas in today’s society and a result
of the needs of modern man. Volvo Trucks’ objective is to meet
these needs.
traffic. The trucks have a solid reputation as
reliable, durable, safe and cost efficient – dur-
ing their entire useful life.
Volvo’s trucks are part of a very sensitive and
refined chain of logistic events, in which unfore-
seen stops signify major problems. This applies
to such everyday commodities as food and
flowers but also for the transportation of, for
example, coffee beans from plantations in
Brazil.
“When we began transporting coffee two
years ago, we invested in five brand new Volvo
FH’s,” says Orley de Oliviera Souza, Transrodan
in Brazil. Our customers demand just-in-time
collection and delivery and we needed reliable
vehicles. Stand stills and delays would be dev-
astating.”
Product renewal within Volvo Trucks has
been intensive in recent years. Volvo Trucks has
invested a total of more than SEK 9 billion in
product renewal and product improvement
over the past five years.
The 2006 fiscal year was characterized by
continued launching of new products following
an intensive 2005 when the new Volvo FH and
Volvo FM were introduced in Europe, Volvo VT
in North America and a modification of Volvo
VM in Brazil.
First out in 2006 was an upgraded version of
the flagship, Volvo FH16. It is equipped with a
new 16-liter engine with up to 660 hp, which
makes it the world’s most powerful mass-pro-
duced truck.
Piet Visser works as a driver for flower export com-
pany Hilverda De Boer, which transports fresh flow-
ers from flower auctions in Amsterdam to customers
throughout Europe.
The corresponding flagship for the US mar-
ket is the Volvo VT series, which was launched
in 2005. With its 625 hp, the Volvo VT is the
most powerful truck in the US. During the year,
the product program was further developed
and the offering broadened to include more
cab variations, such as a mid-roof cab, to satisfy
more customer segments.
In terms of environment, Volvo Trucks is con-
tinuing developments within the truck sector.
The new engine program not only complies
with the new environmental legislation in
Europe, but also has considerably lower fuel
consumption than its predecessors.
On January 1, 2007, new emission regula-
tions were introduced in the US. In order to
meet these regulations, Volvo Trucks launched
a completely new engine program for the North
American market. Volvo I-Shift was also pre-
sented to US customers, which is the first auto-
matic Volvo gearbox to be introduced in North
America.
During 2006, the Volvo FL and Volvo FE
were also introduced in Europe and are aimed
at a broader category of distribution customers,
for example, tradesmen, fruit traders and bak-
ers. For the benefit of these customers, Volvo
Trucks has developed a completely new busi-
ness concept, which facilitates the rapid and
simple purchase of key-in-hand trucks equipped
with bodies, tail lift and all types of support ser-
vices, for example, service contracts.
64Business areas 2006