Press releases 2008

Volvo Buses has received an order for 235 city buses to Sydney and Brisbane, Australia. In addition, there could be another 250 buses to Brisbane in the years ahead.

The County Administrative Court in Göteborg, Sweden has ruled in AB Volvo’s favor in a tax case pertaining to a deduction claimed in 2003 related to a loss on a receivable due from the British subsidiary BRS. The ruling will result in AB Volvo reporting a positive tax effect of about SEK 180 M plus interest, a total of about SEK 200 M.

Total deliveries from the Volvo Group’s truck operations in November amounted to 19,326 vehicles which is a decrease of 21%, compared with the year-earlier period. During the fourth quarter, the Group is forced to continuously take stop days and stop weeks in production to avoid inventory build-up of trucks.

The Volvo Group is initiating cooperation within the Swedish government’s logistics forum and with the authorities to realize the EU Commission’s concept regarding environmentally sound goods transport in “green corridors.” The goal is to reduce the impact on the environment while simultaneously increasing efficiency and safety on highways through specially adapted transport stretches for heavy traffic.

The Swedish National Tax Board has announced a review decision in an internal pricing issue to AB Volvo’s American subsidiary Mack. The decision results in an increased taxable income for AB Volvo for the years 2002 and 2003 totaling SEK 828 M, corresponding to tax of SEK 232 M. In addition, the Tax Board levied a tax surcharge of SEK 83 M. As a result of the decision, Volvo has been placed in a double taxation position.

At Tuesday’s Investor Day in New York, Volvo’s President and CEO Leif Johansson announced that the global recession had forced the Group to adapt all of its operations to today’s significantly weaker demand.

Total deliveries of trucks from the Volvo Group’s truck operations in October amounted to 22,136 which is a decrease of 12%, compared with the year-earlier period.

Politicians and policy-makers all over the world struggle to stabilize the global financial system. But perhaps regulations and command-and-control won’t do much good. Instead, governments should take a closer look at the research on resilience – the capacity of an eco-system to cope with shock and then rebuild and renew itself.

Volvo Buses has received its first order for the company’s new hybrid bus, Volvo 7700 Hybrid. Sales-Lentz, a bus operator in Luxembourg, has ordered six hybrid buses with delivery starting in 2009.

After a first and second quarter with record sales and record income, sales growth decelerated much more rapidly than expected during the third quarter, as visible in the reported earnings. The downturn in the economy has been significantly exacerbated by the global financial crisis.