Volvo Introduces I-Shift Transmission to Mexico
GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Volvo Trucks and one of its largest Mexican fleet customers announced that the carrier is the first to adopt Volvo’s I-Shift automated manual transmission in this country, which Volvo said is part of its strategy to boost its presence in the Mexican truck market.
Transportes Monroy Schiavon has been testing the I-Shifts for several months and expects to have 100 of the units on new Volvo Class 8 VNL 630 trucks by early next year, TMS executives said.
Volvo and TMS officials told reporters about the deal at the fleet’s Mexico City headquarters Nov. 11. Volvo formally announced the introduction of the I-Shift to Mexico in Guadalajara a day later on the eve of Expotransporte, Mexico’s largest truck show.
“The Mexican market is critical to the success of Volvo Trucks in North America,” Göran Nyberg, Volvo Trucks’ president of North American sales and marketing, said at a Nov. 12 press conference at Expotransporte.
Volvo is in the process of growing its Mexican market share, which was about 6% in 2011, 8% last year and has risen to near 10% this year, with almost 1,300 Class 8 tractors sold through October, said Matt Walsh, director of Volvo’s Mexico region.
More coverage to come in the Nov. 18 print edition of Transport Topics.
