UD Trucks Japan to supply engines for Volvo Trucks

Volvo has had a successful run as a manufacturer of heavy trucks.  But globally, it has never managed to reach the position of its chief commercial vehicle industry rival, Daimler, in the medium duty truck segment, that is, the 6 to 26 tons category.  Even after the Renault range came under Volvo’s control in 2001, the group’s FL, FE, and Midlum chassis are not selling as much as Mercedes-Benz’s Atego, or Iveco’s Stralis and EuroCargo models.

Engines built at UD Trucks, Japan plants

So now, Volvo Trucks’ management has a new strategy for boosting the sales of the FL and FE chassis that are built at the group’s Belgium plant.  Currently, the six-cylinder 7.2-liter diesel engine that powers all the FL/FE chassis and the heavier Midlum models, as well as its four-cylinder 4.8-liter stablemate that powers the lightest Midlums, are both outsourced from Deutz, the German engine manufacturer.  But now these medium duty truck engines will be manufactured at UD Trucks’ Ageo engine plant in Japan.  UD, formerly known as Nissan Diesel, is fully owned by Volvo since 2007.

Production of the new four- and six-cylinder mid-range diesels, having a capacity of 1.17 liters / cylinder and named GH5 and GH7, began in July.  The engines are said to have a “newly-developed common-rail fuel system”.  Volvo has not yet revealed too many technical details, but it is believed that a high specific output, or “power density”, can be expected, as the GH5 will be developing around 212hp.

Both engines will first be used in Japanese-built UD truck as well as bus models, and are expected to be introduced in the European market some months later.  Besides powering 6 to 26 ton Renault and Volvo truck chassis, the new power units will also be used for lighter-duty buses and coaches.  The smaller GH5 engine will replace the present four-cylinder Deutz-built diesel engine in Volvo’s B5L parallel hybrid double-deck bus model.

Considered from a marketing point of view, Volvo’s strategy will prove beneficial for the company.  Even though the change from outsourced to in-house engines for middleweight Renault and Volvo trucks will initially incur considerable R&D cost, it will eventually help the group to compete better on price.  But besides the cost advantage that will result from the switch, there will be one more monetary benefit.  The profit from the sales of middleweight Renaults and Volvos which are currently shared effectively with Deutz will go entirely to the Volvo group in the future.