BOSTON (October 17, 2005) – Volvo Trucks North America, Inc. announced that it will offer a complete family of Volvo diesel engines to meet the new emissions standards which take effect in 2007.  The new family of engines will include 11- and 13-liter models, in addition to the 16-liter Volvo D16 introduced earlier this year.

 The new engines will use proven technologies to meet the stringent 2007 emissions requirements.  But they will also build upon Volvo’s industry-leading engine technology to deliver a new level of performance and productivity.

 “Volvo plans to use its resources and expertise as the largest manufacturer of heavy-duty diesels in the world to give our customers an exceptionally broad, powerful and reliable line of diesels,” said Peter Karlsten, president and CEO of Volvo Trucks North America.  “These new engines are designed to surpass the excellent record of the Volvo D12, while also giving our customers the ability to fine-tune their engine choice, based on their application and other requirements.  These engines embody more than 60 years of Volvo innovation and experience in diesel technology.”

 Volvo plans to launch the engines to customers and dealers during the first quarter of 2006.  Today’s announcement was made at a news conference during the American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference & Exhibition in Boston.

“Volvo has a clear vision and plan for bringing these outstanding new engines to market,” said Karlsten.  “We are where we need to be with our testing and development to ensure that our customers receive engines with the performance, fuel economy and reliability they demand from Volvo.”

 As previously announced, Volvo has selected high-performance exhaust gas recirculation (HEGR) as the primary NOx emissions control and a diesel particulate filter (DPF) for particulate control for its EPA’07-compliant engines.  These technologies are well-known to Volvo and have shown themselves to be reliable and durable in operation.  Tens of thousands of Volvo trucks with EGR systems have proved themselves in everyday operation on North American highways.  Volvo engines for 2007 will simply use a higher rate of EGR to achieve the lower NOx emissions.  All of Volvo’s 2007 engines are designed to use the ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel mandated by the U.S. government to be available in the second half of 2006.

In addition to the emissions reductions solutions, Volvo’s 2007 engine family will include the following key hardware:

• Advanced, high-pressure fuel injection with multiple injections per stroke
• Increased peak cylinder pressures
• Single-stage variable geometry turbocharger (VGT)
• Reinforced base engine components to handle internal loads
• High-capacity cooling system fully integrated into truck design
• Advanced centrifugal crankcase ventilation

The current Volvo D16 is the first example of this new engine architecture.

 “Our testing indicates that the new family of engines will maintain the level of fuel economy demonstrated by the current Volvo D12, while delivering driveability even better than the D12’s already excellent performance,” said Karlsten.  “We are taking full advantage of our EPA’02 experience to optimize the 2007 engine family for our customers.”

 The new family of engines will be built at the Volvo Powertrain North America plant in Hagerstown, MD.  The Volvo Group has invested $150 million in the Hagerstown plant to bring Volvo engine production to North America, with state-of-the-art manufacturing and testing capabilities.

 Volvo Trucks North America will also continue to offer the popular 15-liter Cummins ISX as an option in its Volvo VN and Volvo VT highway tractors.

Volvo Trucks North America assembles its Volvo VT, VN and VHD trucks in the United States, at the ISO14001 and ISO9001 certified New River Valley Plant in Dublin, Virginia.  Volvo sponsors the America’s Road Team national highway safety outreach program.

Volvo Trucks North America, Inc., is part of the Volvo Group of companies, a publicly held company headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden.  With 2004 sales of approximately $27 billion, Volvo’s business areas include heavy trucks, buses, construction equipment, marine and industrial drive systems, aerospace, and financial services.  In the United States, Volvo shares are listed on NASDAQ and are traded as ADRs (symbol: VOLVY).