Over 2,500 customers visited nine locations in France to test drive Volvo Construction Equipment machines and trucks as part of the Volvo Construction Tour 2010.
The two-month-long event, held from September to November, was the first time in years that Volvo Construction Equipment and Volvo Trucks have toured France together to promote their products. The tour highlights the Volvo Group’s large and comprehensive construction machine and vehicle offering.
The tour started in St Vaast les Mello quarry – close to Creil, North of Paris/Charles de Gaulle – then continued on to Brehand in Brittany, then to Mercurol, close to Valence, then Lemptegy (Vulcan) close to Clermont Ferrand, and finally to Comblanchien, close to Dijon. The locations, most of them in quarries, were chosen so customers could test drive the Volvo machines in tough conditions.
At the event, Volvo Construction Equipment France took the opportunity to meet customers and promote its products, including the full suspension A40 articulated hauler, L150F wheel loader – with fuel saving Optishift technology – ECR235 crawler excavator and EW140 wheeled excavator. Volvo also displayed the new Steelwrist attachment, a multi-directional tool which can be mounted onto Volvo excavators.
Customers were shown demonstrations of the machines in each quarry and were invited to test drive them. Volvo’s selection of soft products was also presented, in particular Volvo Construction Equipment’s telematics system CareTrack – fitted as standard to all new, larger Volvo machines (in markets currently offering CareTrack).
Volvo Trucks launched their new FMX truck at the event and offered similar customer workshops at the quarries, where they presented I-Shift – a 12-speed, automated mechanical transmission that maximizes driver comfort, payload and fuel economy.
Jean-Marie Osdoit, President of Volvo Construction Equipment France, spoke at the event and said: “What is common between a Volvo truck and a Volvo articulated hauler is not only the engine or some technical details, but also the customers. The objective of the Volvo Construction Tour is to display a global picture of the Volvo Group in the construction segment and to show that we have an extensive customer offering.”
Jean-Noel Thenault, President of Volvo Trucks France, says: “The teamwork between Volvo Trucks and Volvo Construction Equipment France has been tremendous. Our target was to increase customer awareness about our new FMX truck, alongside Volvo’s construction machinery, and we have succeeded. We plan to continue these joint activities in the future; the next one is the Volvo Days, held in Sweden in Spring 2011."
