Volvo Celebrates Engine Milestone

Volvo has produced its 300,000th 13-liter heavy-duty diesel engine. The company celebrated the milestone last week at its Hagerstown, Md., plant.

The Volvo 13-liter, 500 horsepower D13 engine came off the assembly line at the Volvo Powertrain plant in Hagerstown and placed in a new Volvo VN780 chassis at Volvo Trucks' New River Valley assembly plant in Virginia. During the celebration, the completed truck was presented to its new owner, Abilene Motor Express of Richmond, Va.

"We are happy and humbled to have assembled the 300,000th Volvo 13-Liter engine here in Hagerstown," said Carlos Hungria, senior vice president and chief operating officer, Volvo Powertrain. "We're particularly pleased that our 300,000th is an EPA 2010-certified D13 engine that meets the most stringent emissions standards in the world."

Volvo 13-liter engine production began in Skovde, Sweden, in 2005, and today the engines are also assembled in Curitiba, Brazil, as well as Hagerstown.

"As one of the world's largest producers of heavy-duty diesel engines, we've made the investments - both globally and here in Hagerstown - to ensure we remain on the leading edge of powertrain development and production," said Denny Slagle, president and CEO of Volvo Trucks North America.

During the July 15 ceremony, Slagle presented the vehicle's keys to Abilene's president, Keith Jones, who has been operating Volvo vehicles since 1999. Abilene's Class 8 fleet includes 140 VN780s, with more than 50 EPA 2010 versions either already in service or soon to be so.

"The Volvo EPA10 units are already delivering the best fuel economy in the fleet - just north of 7 miles per gallon - even though they are still in the break in phase," said Jones.

Jones also said his drivers enjoy the ride, roominess, visibility, maneuverability and safety of Volvo trucks.

"They prefer the performance and pulling power of the Volvo engine," said Jones.