News

Today, on March 3, the Håkan Frisinger Foundation for Transportation Research will present its award for 2009 to Magnus Skoglundh of Chalmers University of Technology. The award of SEK 250,000 has been granted to Magnus Skoglundh for his outstanding research in the field of emission catalysis.

“Industrikompetens i väst”, a jobcentre project specialising in industrial jobs and involving Volvo Cars, AB Volvo and several suppliers, has been granted 18 million kronor by the European Social Fund (ESF). The funds are earmarked for competence enhancement.

Tony Helsham, Senior Vice President responsible for coordinating the Volvo Group’s aftermarket business, will be leaving the Group Executive Committee on March 31, 2010.

Total deliveries from the Volvo Group’s truck operations in January amounted to 9,423 vehicles. This was a decrease of 8% compared with the year-earlier period.

In preparation for AB Volvo’s Annual General Meeting on April 14, 2010, Volvo’s Election Committee decided unanimously to propose that the Meeting elect Louis Schweitzer as new Chairman. The Election Committee also decided to propose re-election of Peter Bijur, Jean-Baptiste Duzan, Leif Johansson, Anders Nyrén, Ravi Venkatesan, Lars Westerberg and Ying Yeh and new election of Hanne de Mora.

Washington, DC - At the Renewable Energy Technology Conference & Exhibition (RETECH 2010) the Volvo Group today announced its first academic partnership in North America. Penn State was chosen as part of Volvo’s Academic Partner Program, which was launched globally in 2009 for research cooperation with selected universities.

In the fourth quarter, the Volvo Group continued to have substantial costs in connection with its effort to adjust the cost structure to a considerably lower level of demand in the wake of the financial crisis, something that contributed to an operating loss of slightly more than SEK 2 billion in the quarter. The main focus during the quarter was on cash flow and the Group created a positive cash flow of SEK 8.6 billion, which is one of the best cash inflows ever for a single quarter.

Volvo Buses has secured an order for 323 coaches in Mexico. Most of these will be delivered in 2010.

Knight Transportation has placed an order for 370 Volvo VNs equipped with selective catalytic reduction (SCR) emissions control technology. Volvo Trucks North America will begin deliveries of these trucks to the Phoenix-based fleet in April.

JCB and Volvo Construction Equipment have entered into a framework agreement under which they will cooperate on the engineering and manufacturing of skid steer loader and compact tracked loader products for distribution under their respective brands and through their respective global dealer networks.