Volvo's Stateside return match
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After recently suffering from poor results in the US, Volvo is now staging a strong North American fightback with its bonneted VN range. It is also looking at selling its European FH range "over there". But could the cabover FH really hack it Stateside?
by Brian Weatherley • Volvo is seriously looking at launching its European FH tractor into the lucrative US heavy truck market, possibly with the option of proprietary engines in place of its own D12 in-line six.
To the question "could the FH feasibly compete in the US?" Volvo Truck North America boss Marc Gustafson says: "We're really looking at that right now—it's under study."
Since the deregulation of the US road transport industry in the early eighties, the US cabover (forward control) market has declined sharply in favour of bonneted trucks. But growing environmental pressures and demands for higher gross artic weights could put them under the spotlight again.
While insisting there's no preset timescale to the project, Gustafson reports: "At the MidAmerica Truck Show you'll see the FR on display with our modular concept (see below) where 40% of the components are shared between the bonneted VN and the FH. There's certainly an opportunity for us to move very fast should the regulations change."
With US operators preferring to spec their own engines, Gustafson also says it is "a possibility" that the FH could be offered with Caterpillar, Cummins and Detroit Diesel power units.
However, before Volvo could launch an FH in the States it would have to work on its electrical system (the US uses 12V rather than 24V on its heavy trucks) and the brakes in order for them to comply with American regulations.
With questions being raised over the suitability of running big bonneted trucks in urban areas, VTNA's director of customer relations Larry Oliphant says there is most definitely a case for looking at the FH. "There's fundamentally no reason why it couldn't do well here—it's a sensational truck."
Gustafson adds: "It's a
question of what happens in terms of regulations in our industry. We know that weight laws in Mexico and Canada are higher than they are in the US. We know there are growing traffic issues to contend with today and should regulations go up and longer trailers become permissible then cabover configurations certainly make sense."
For a full report on the Mid America Truck Show and the European truck makers' activities in the US, see Commercial Motor 2-8 April