Corporate news 2010

FMV and Volvo Aero have signed an agreement for Volvo Aero to provide maintenance, spare parts and product support to Gripen engines for five years in Sweden, Hungary and the Czech Republic. The agreement is unique of its type: Volvo Aero guarantees constant availability.

The Volvo Group will be the world’s first vehicle manufacturer to join the World Wide Fund for Nature’s (WWF) Climate Savers Program. As a WWF partner, the Volvo Group’s truck companies undertake to reduce the CO2-emissions from vehicles manufactured between 2009 and 2014 by 13 million tons. Independent technical experts will oversee the results.

“We must prepare for another future”. A few days ago, the major UN meeting in Nagoya, Japan, convening over 18 000 delegates and 130 environment ministers, reached agreement on a plan to protect biological diversity.

Mean Green is a unique hybrid truck built by an enthusiastic team at Volvo Trucks. They plan to use it next spring to beat the world speed record for the standing kilometre. Behind the wheel is Swedish truck racing ace Boije Ovebrink. “The absolute elite among Volvo’s hybrid technology experts are the driving force behind the project. They are true enthusiasts, every last one of them. I’d go so far as to say that Mean Green is the world’s fastest hybrid truck,” says Ovebrink.

The advanced gearbox of today has reverted to what it was back in 1928 – three-speed and non-synchromesh. At least that is the way it is for Volvo Trucks. The development span between that first gearbox and the very latest – the I-Shift – encompasses a huge amount of work and many landmark accomplishments.

Volvo Group's Corporate Presentation 2010 was richly rewarded at the Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards on October 14. The film, produced by Stark Film & Event AB, won gold for best animation, graphics and special effects in the Marketing category.

Today is the ‘one year to go’ milestone for the Volvo Ocean Race 2011–2012 which will begin in Alicante, Spain, on October 29 next year.

Volvo has received its first order for buses that operate on both biogas and diesel. Using diesel technology increases environmental efficiency compared with current gas-operated buses.

Today, Volvo Trucks will initiate public field testing with methane diesel trucks that can run on liquefied methane gas. At the same time, Sweden’s first filling station for liquefied methane gas will open at Stigs Center in Göteborg.

Zinc is mainly used as an anti-corrosion agent for steel, and is one of the most common metals in use. Every day, José Astete Torres drives his Volvo FH up to almost 5,000 metres above sea level to pick up a load of zinc from the mines in Peru’s mountainous heartland. Sheer drops and hairpin bend make a journey guaranteed to test the limits of man and machine alike.