Volvo Trucks has launched its first new heavy duty prime mover in two decades
Volvo Trucks has launched its first new heavy duty prime mover in two decades.
The new FH that made its debut at the Hanover IAA show last year has been unveiled in Brisbane’s Queen Street Mall.
Brisbane Mayor Graham Quirk revealed the truck in front of a large crowd of local Volvo factory workers and interested bystanders.
The dramatic charcoal grey FH16 Globetrotter XL 700 put on display represents the flagship of the Volvo heavy duty range.
Australia is the first market outside of Europe to launch the radical new design, which will be manufactured at Volvo’s Wacol plant south of Brisbane.
The FH has sold 650,000 trucks globally since its inception in 1993 with one in every four long haul trucks in Europe wearing the FH badge.
Touted as Volvo’s “safest truck ever” the new vehicle represents “an icon reborn”, according to Volvo Trucks Australia President and CEO Arne Knaben.
The prime mover is the result of over 3,000 driver and customer interviews and has been crash tested 363 times resulting in 26 trucks being smashed at the Volvo crash testing facility in Sweden.
An extra cubic metre of storage is now available in the Globetrotter XL and the windscreen has been bonded to the cab to provide structural strength during a rollover.
At present the engine and transmission options will remain the same the current model Australian FH.
It means the FH will be available in both 13 litre and 16 litre options, both of which satisfy current ADR80/03 (Euro 5) emissions regulations.
One new feature of the vehicle is Volvo’s I-See GPS intelligent cruise control.
I-See uses GPS technology to read the topography of regular routes and can store up to 4,000 different routes. It enables the truck to fine-tune engine power, throttle response and engine braking to maximise performance and save fuel.
Another glimpse of the future was provided by a new Volvo smartphone app that enables a driver to lock and unlock the vehicle with their mobile phone and check fluid levels and globes.
Australian orders for the new FH officially open in June this year with the first units expected to be delivered early 2014.