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• Volvo's new sales agency for the former Leyland and Volvo passenger vehicle businesses, VL Bus and Coach, has announced its longawaited plans for the company. Contrary to expectations, the whole four-vehicle Leyland line-up will be retained, along with the two Volvo buses. The four former Leyland Bus Centres will be kept and turned into "Support Centres", and there are plans for 10 "support dealers", with more following next year.
In addition, there will be a £20 million parts centre at Lutterworth. Leicestershire. Currently under construction, the parts centre will provide vehicle-off-road spares, ordinary spares, and training facilities for the new VL dealers.
In keeping the existing Leyland range of vehicles, many of which compete with the equivalent Volvo products, the company has decided to engineer the buses and coaches to accept Volvo drivelines in addition to the current Cummins or Gardner-based drive lines. 1:Itimately, the Leyland Olympian, Swift, Lynx and Tiger may be offered with Volvo suspensions as well.
There are two former Ley. land factories at Farringdon and Workington, which will he retained to manufacture the former Leyland vehicles and parts, and possibly complete chassis for the Volvo 1110M, and the mid-engined Citybus.
The main job for VL Bus and Coach is to sort out the byzantine parts systems and stocks it has inherited. Major engineering plans will be subordinate to this aim, although small improvements are already under way.
0 Bus engines which will meet the 1990 US and 1991/94 Swedish and Swiss pollution regulations have been developed by Volvo Bus. Two new versions of the THD 102 engines have been modified to produce "ultra-low emissions"
up to 55% less than current engines, claims Volvo. The THD 102 KB and KF units are high-powered engines primarily designed for artic buses which, although unlikely to find a market in UK, show what can be done with the diesel engine.