First of all, Volvo Trucks picked up Ireland's leading honour when the Volvo 11-litre FM won ‘Irish Truck of the Year 2010' at a ceremony held at the Marriott Johnstown House Hotel, Enfield, County Meath. The award, presented by ‘Fleet Transport' magazine at their seventh annual awards ceremony was given to Volvo Trucks Managing Director Göran Nyberg.
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"It's great to get good news in these difficult times," said Göran on receiving the award. "The positive thing for us is that Volvo met the downturn with a refreshed range of quality products. The Volvo FM with the 11 litre engine is an added value product that is tailor-made for the fleet sector. Due to its light weight and adaptability we have put together a specification for the petro-chemical industry and also for supermarket delivery. Above all, the FM11's fuel economy is excellent."
The second award won by Volvo Trucks in October was the Greenfleet ‘Large Goods Vehicle Manufacturer of the Year'. This time, Volvo Truck Product Manager UK and Ireland John Comer did the honours and lifted the trophy on behalf of Volvo Trucks.
The award, which was handed over by racing driver and ex-‘Top Gear' and ‘Fifth Gear' TV presenter Tiff Needell at a ceremony held at London's Guildhall, recognised Volvo's development of environmental solutions for both truck and bus fleet operators.
Greenfleet's award ceremony coincided with the legal implementation of Euro 5 emission levels becoming mandatory for all new registrations across the EU. During the presentation Greenfleet commented that today a Euro-5 Volvo truck is 100 times cleaner in terms of controlled engine emissions than one from 1989 - only 20 years ago.
The Greenfleet award also acknowledged that the Volvo D13 and D11 Euro-5 emission compliant engines are available in versions which meet the even lower particulate and smoke emission levels specified in the Enhanced Environmentally friendly Vehicle (EEV) standards.
This is now the fourth year in succession that Volvo has been successful in winning a Greenfleet environmental award, not including the European Greenfleet environmental award won last year.