Volvo, Mack to Exhibit at 2017 NACV; Volvo to Skip MATS

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Volvo Group’s two North American operating companies have agreed to exhibit at the North American Commercial Vehicle Show in Atlanta a year from now and will either reduce or suspend their connection with the Mid-America Trucking Show in 2017.

The confirmation from Mack Trucks came on Sept. 1 as part of the original equipment manufacturer’s ride-and-drive press event here. A Volvo Trucks spokesman added a statement on Sept. 3.

“Mack has signed a letter of intent to exhibit at the first North American Commercial Vehicle Show. We are still working through our position on MATS,” John Walsh, Mack’s marketing vice president, told Transport Topics during the press event at the company’s customer center.

“Volvo Trucks will be at the North American Commercial Vehicle Show but will not be attending MATS in 2017,” VTNA spokesman John Mies said in an e-mail.

In May, NACV Show executives announced similar deals with Daimler Trucks North America and Navistar International Corp. The inaugural exhibition will be Sept. 25-29 at Atlanta’s Georgia World Congress Center.

Those two OEMs said their subsidiaries or some dealerships might choose to maintain a presence at Mid-America, but their large, corporatewide exhibits will move to NACV for at least its first three shows, in 2017, 2019 and 2021.

NACV was created to run in odd-numbered years as a North American complement to the IAA Commercial Vehicles show in Hanover, Germany, which runs in even-numbered years for the European industry.

Kenworth Trucks and Peterbilt Motors, the North American operating companies of Paccar Inc., have not yet announced decisions on their 2017 marketing plans.

MATS, held every spring in Louisville, Kentucky, since 1972, has been North America’s largest truck show, but this year none of the seven manufacturers of heavy-duty trucks displayed there, saying they want to switch to an every-other-year model.