Volvo Trucks Debut Medium-Heavy Engine

Similar to the passenger car division, Volvo Trucks is doing yet another step towards a more fuel efficient product range, this time with a new medium-heavy engine for trucks and buses. The engine is expected to hit the market in 2010 but the Swedish manufacturer says that more decisions are to be taken in the next years, all of them with a single goal: internal efficiency.

"We have not yet seen any signs of our primary markets in Europe or North America recovering, although we may have started seeing indications of trends leveling out. We are working intently on reducing our stock of trucks and construction equipment, while striving to defend our price levels," Volvo CEO Leif Johansson said according to theautochannel.com.

"In light of the weak demand in the market, we have made further reductions to production compared with the first quarter. We will continue to have low cost coverage until we have balanced our stocks and costs with demand in the market, and this will impact profitability."

The Swedish manufacturer is currently developing an in-house platform for medium-heavy diesel engines, which means new powerplants are expected to be debuted in the next few years. The first units will arrive, as we told you, in 2010, but the company is really keen on its development plans, as emission regulations are getting tougher.

Unfortunately, things are getting worse in the truck industry as Leif Johansson revealed that the sales trend in this sector has continued to weaken in the second quarter, in addition to the poor figures recorded by most truck manufacturers since the second half of 2008.