DUBLIN — Scandinavian accents filled Volvo Truck’s new customer center at the Virginia plant on Tuesday, as the company welcomed top executives and media from around the world to unveil its next generation of rigs.
Company officials offered rosy forecasts for future sales, noting the plant has offered jobs back to all those laid off during its last drawdown and is now accepting applications from potential new workers at what’s been one of the largest employers in the region for decades.
The new truck line, known as the VNL family, has been in the works for years. It comes stocked with new features including refrigerated seats, five USB power outlets, 21 steering wheel buttons, improved fuel efficiency and active crash avoidance technology. A search of some dealer websites show VNL models selling from $117,000 to $180,000.
When looking for an announcement venue, the Swedish company decided the event would serve as a good time to also unveil the new customer center in Pulaski County. The 36,000-square-foot showroom was part of a $38.1 million plant investment in 2015. Now that construction is complete, Volvo plans to welcome more than 3,000 visitors in the coming months.
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Company representatives said the idea is to have a place to bring perspective customers while they’re shopping. They can begin with a tour of the assembly line across the street, and then stop by the customer center to see the finished product.
The facility has an event space, trucks on display and separate meeting rooms to learn about things like safety features and engine upgrades. The building overlooks a 1.1-mile test track where customers can watch the vehicles they’re about to buy in action – or jump behind the steering wheel themselves.
“The purpose of this building is to give them the royal treatment,” Volvo Trucks General Manager Franky Marchand said.
On Tuesday, the test track was full of journalists trying out the new VNLs.
The New River Valley plant has already produced some of these trucks for testing and trade shows, but now they’ll begin rolling off the assembly line for customers.
The product launch comes as things are looking up for the Dublin factory.
The plant struggled in 2016, as a dip in the overall industry prompted multiple rounds of deep layoffs. According to Marchand, Volvo was on the verge of slimming down to one production shift per day after cutting about 500 workers in February, 300 in September and then announcing 500 additional cuts in December.
But that’s when things started to look up. Inventory, or the number of trucks waiting to be put to use, was low and so the industry began to correct itself. The last round of layoffs was eventually canceled.
Since then, every eligible worker who was laid off has been offered a job back with the company. Now, with employment around 2,400, Marchand said Volvo is accepting new applications again.
“We have touched the bottom,” he said, citing official corporate forecasts. “With a brand new truck like this, we should be able to take our lion’s share of the market. It’s good news for us.”
Top Volvo executives also gave a rosy outlook for the company’s North American business during Tuesday’s presentation, calling for “moderate growth” in manufacturing for 2018.
Asked about research in the realm of self-driving trucks, company global president Claes Nilsson told The Roanoke Times that’s in the works as well.
He confirmed that Volvo Trucks is working with the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, a leader in vehicle automation technology, as well as other universities and private companies.
Volvo Trucks has already started testing slow-moving automated trash collectors in Sweden. Nilsson said those kinds of applications, as well as off-road vehicles, are “just around the corner” for both Europe and North America.
As for the prospect of driverless tractor trailers making their way down on Interstate 81, Nilsson said we shouldn’t count on that in the near future.
He said customers are eager and asking for the technology, noting “the direction is clear.”
“Outside of the roads, it’s going to happen very quickly,” Nilsson added. “But again, on roads where you’re dependent on politicians and legislation — who knows.”