The Volvo Group to launch natural gas engine for the North American market

The Volvo Group will launch a 13-liter liquefied natural gas (LNG) engine within the Volvo brand for the North American market 2014. The engine’s high pressure diesel ignition technology will provide significant fuel efficiency gains compared with current natural gas products.

Combined with the group’s previously announced offering of compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered Volvo VNM and Volvo VNL model daycabs, the new engine will provide customers with a complete range of natural gas-powered transportation solutions. Within the Volvo brand another fuel is being tested that can be produced from natural gas, DME (dimethyl ether), which has the potential to become an attractive alternative for the North American market.

“Despite the near-term infrastructure questions regarding widespread adoption of natural gas as a heavy-duty truck fuel, it’s clear this segment will grow over the next several years,” said Ron Huibers, president of Volvo Trucks North American Sales & Marketing.

Through advanced high pressure diesel ignition technology – using trace amounts of diesel to ignite the natural gas – Volvo’s LNG engine will deliver a 30 percent fuel efficiency improvement compared with spark-ignition (SI) engines, making it a viable alternative for demanding long-haul applications. The Volvo 13-liter LNG engine will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 20 percent compared with current diesel products.

The Volvo Group was the number one supplier of 13-liter heavy-duty engines to the combined U.S. and Canadian market last year, and the same vertically integrated approach that has made Volvo a global powertrain leader is being applied to the development of the new engine. The company’s proprietary Volvo I-Shift automated mechanical transmission also will be available for customers to specify.

The Volvo Group has also conducted field tests of trucks equipped with DME. The strong results – from ten vehicles operating in a variety of applications in Europe – indicate DME holds much promise as a heavy-truck fuel, and could become a viable alternative in North America to CNG or LNG when it comes to performance, environmental impact, safety and distribution.

“Since we adopted Environmental Care as a core value in 1970s, the Volvo Group has dedicated the resources necessary to lead in alternative fuel technologies,” Huibers said. “We demonstrated in 2007 our ability to run vehicles on seven different fuels, and we continue to refine our work with a variety alternative fuels and drivelines. Our comprehensive strategy – including CNG, LNG, and potentially DME – means we’ll have a complete range of natural gas solutions as the infrastructure develops.”

May 21, 2012

Reporters who want more information, please contact Mårten Wikforss, +46 31 66 11 27 or +46 705-59 11 49

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The Volvo Group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of trucks, buses and construction equipment, drive systems for marine and industrial applications and aerospace components. The Group also provides complete solutions for financing and service. The Volvo Group, which employs about 115,000 people, has production facilities in 20 countries and sells their products in more than 190 markets. In 2011 annual sales of the Volvo Group amounted to about SEK 310 billion. The Volvo Group is a publicly-held company headquartered in Göteborg, Sweden. Volvo shares are listed on OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm. For more information, please visit www.volvogroup.com or www.volvogroup.mobi if you are using your mobile phone