Following several years of resisting local Euro 6 truck manufacturing, Volvo has quietly revealed the first locally manufactured Euro 6 Volvo prime movers have started to roll off its Wacol assembly line, and have been sold to transport giant, Linfox.
Volvo held a ceremony at its Brisbane factory this week, which saw Linfox boss, Peter Fox take delivery of the first local Euro 6 FM from Volvo Australia president, Martin Merrick, in the presence of Federal assistant Minister for Road Safety and Freight Transport, Scott Buchholz.
Linfox has signed a 100 truck order with Volvo for Euro 6 prime movers and the ceremony saw the first of that order roll off the line.
The building of Euro 6 compliant trucks on the Wacol line marks a change of philosophy for Volvo in Australia, as T&B News understands that the company has in the past been opposed to a move to Euro 6 being mandated in Australia, arguing strongly against it in Truck Industry Council meetings, particularly under previous CEO, Peter Voorhoeve.
Current Volvo Australia chief, Martin Merrick proudly announced the start of local Euro 6 manufacturing by saying the company is working to drive a safer, cleaner,more productive transport industry here in this country.
“Manufacturing our products in Australia makes us strong, while buying Australian Made promotes success in our community,” Merrick said.
“And now we are building our cleanest, safest trucks here in this country,” he added.
The company statement following the event says the first FM prime movers cover 11 and 13 litre engine capacities with horsepower ratings from 460 to 500hp.
It says the trucks are equipped with a full complement of active and passive safety equipment as well as meeting criteria of the stringent Swedish BOF10 crash test.
Peter Fox, who was able to attend the handover thanks to the fact that he is currently resident on the Gold Coast and could be at Wacol without having to endure quarantine, said that Volvo’s new Australian-made Euro 6 fleet combines local manufacturing expertise combined with Linfox’s key commitments to act sustainably and lead in safety and compliance
“Our investment in sustainable vehicles has helped to significantly reduce our emissions over the past several years,” Fox said.
“Linfox and Volvo share a long standing commitment to safe, efficient fleets that minimise our impact on the environment and the communities in which we operate,” he added
