Volvo Vs Mack North America

[james j neiweem]

volvo haters and Mack lovers take heart. From the volvo web site year to date volvo sales 3986 units and year to date Mack sales 4240 units. volvo brass do you get the message. This go around instead of dropping Autocar White/GMC etc. Why not drop volvo and push Mack. Just to clarify these stats are for the North American market.

[mack4ever]

volvo haters and Mack lovers take heart. From the volvo web site year to date volvo sales 3986 units and year to date Mack sales 4240 units. volvo brass do you get the message. This go around instead of dropping Autocar White/GMC etc. Why not drop volvo and push Mack.

that‘s the way it should be.

[ThaddeusW]

Its because Volvo is arrogant. They are very respected in Europe and other parts of the world. They cannot stand the idea of playing second fiddle to another company in the market, even a company they own. For years Mack has been very well respected in North America and many other places in the world. When Renault was powering their trucks with E7's many drivers/owners put the Mack lettering on their trucks, they were proud of the fact it was Mack powered. And Renault is in a way the Freightliner of Europe. Now that's respect. Volvo must hate the idea they bought out such a very respected company. Autocar was a very respectable brand but didn't have the stout integrated drive line, household name and heritage of Mack. They were easy prey for the viking like Volvo company, pillaging and plundering other brands to build up their own.

Hopefully one day they see the error in their ways but as of now it looks like we have to fight to ensure Mack stays Mack. And iof you want to ensure they stay Mack be sure to:

Insist on an all Mack drive line. Don't let them sell you a bargain chassis that's been sitting on the lot because it was improperly specked or ordered.

Don't let them sway you with an offer on discounted Volvo trucks, tell them either they discount the Mack like they do Volvo or you take your money to Paccar or Westernstar (bluff of course). Or go to another dealer that gives a damn about the customer and not how many Volvo's they can push in a year.

Don't constantly say you would rather buy used Mack's instead of new ones. That doesn't help the cause, it only shows Volvo one thing: low demand for Mack. They don't give a damn about the second hand market because it doesn't make them a dime. It just gives them an excuse to kill the brand.

Show them you want Titan's, Granite's, Terrapro's and Pinnacle's. Show then there is still strong demand for the Mack name and drive line.I have said this all before and will continue to say it again!

[EM6285]

volvo haters and Mack lovers take heart. From the volvo web site year to date volvo sales 3986 units and year to date Mack sales 4240 units. volvo brass do you get the message. This go around instead of dropping Autocar White/GMC etc. Why not drop volvo and push Mack. Just to clarify these stats are for the North American market.

Uhhhhhh something is missing.

VOLVO SALES- 3,986

MACK SALES- 4,240

______

TOTAL- 8,226 TRUCKS SOLD BY AB VOLVO GROUP (OWNER OF THE MACK TRUCKS BRAND)

ON THOSE 4,240 MACK TRUCKS SOLD, VOLVO GETS A PROFIT.

AND THEY TOTAL 8,226 VOLVO DIESEL ENGINES /CHASSIS SOLD TROUGHT THE VOLVO (D SERIES) AND MACK TRUCKS (MP SERIES) BRANDS.

DON'T THINK THAT BY A MERE 254 UNITS VOLVO IS LOOSING IN A BIG WAY.

WE SHOULD KEEP FAITH IN BRAND NEW MACK TRUCKS NO MATTER THEY HAVE VOLVO ENGINES. SPEC THEM WITH AN ALL MACK POWERTRAIN COMPONENTS. AND DO NOT FORGET ABOUT THAT RUMOR THAT MACK TRUCK CABS WILL BE REPLACED WITH VOLVO CABS IN A NEAR FUTURE.

[farmer52]

A fleet I know has been trying to order five (5) single axle Volvo tractors with sleeper. No can do says Volvo. He will probably go to Fruitliner (his other brand of truck). I suggested he look at a new Mack.

[ThaddeusW]

A fleet I know has been trying to order five (5) single axle Volvo tractors with sleeper. No can do says Volvo. He will probably go to Fruitliner (his other brand of truck). I suggested he look at a new Mack.

WHAT? Why the hell would you turn down a half million plus order? Paccar and Freightliner would be on that like flies on crap.

I hope he looks at Mack.

[Mack 3P]

I love the passion and I have it too. But the daily grind wears on me. The things I see and hear every day bring me more to the realization that Mack has no future in the Volvo organization. (I even wonder if Volvo has a future in America) Volvo will continue to make one bad decision after another just to save face. Despite that I am trying to do everything I can to get a job that will remain in Allentown (for now).

The grand opening ceremony in Greenzero is being held 9/3/09. They say they are celebrating the brand, but I don't see it that way. The Mack brand will have around 60 employees in Greenzero. That seems hardly enough to remain competitive in the trucking industry. Allentown WHQ is 250,000 sq ft. Greenzero HQ is 20,000 sq ft and they don't even get the whole building. Everyone else works for Volvo. Who do you think is going to play second fiddle now? I am sure the post move population of employees in Greenzero will equal the number of employees in Greenzero prior the announcement. In the end all Volvo will have done is get rid of hundreds even thousands of years of trucking knowledge.

In my department the 25 people left have well over 500 combined years of experience in trucking. In Greenzero the 60 people they have barely reaches 300. Quite a few employees have been there 2 years or less.

As time goes on the problem will be there are no Mack employees. Volvo people will be put into Mack positions and will not be making the right decisions for Mack they will be thinking about Volvo. Most people are choosing not to move for one reason or another. But behind all the reasons is they cannot trust Volvo.

Despite all this I still stand behind the Mack truck and am proud to work for Mack. To quote many wise men on this site "F#@k Volvo".

[fjh]

I love the passion and I have it too. But the daily grind wears on me. The things I see and hear every day bring me more to the realization that Mack has no future in the Volvo organization. (I even wonder if Volvo has a future in America) Volvo will continue to make one bad decision after another just to save face. Despite that I am trying to do everything I can to get a job that will remain in Allentown (for now).

The grand opening ceremony in Greenzero is being held 9/3/09. They say they are celebrating the brand, but I don't see it that way. The Mack brand will have around 60 employees in Greenzero. That seems hardly enough to remain competitive in the trucking industry. Allentown WHQ is 250,000 sq ft. Greenzero HQ is 20,000 sq ft and they don't even get the whole building. Everyone else works for Volvo. Who do you think is going to play second fiddle now? I am sure the post move population of employees in Greenzero will equal the number of employees in Greenzero prior the announcement. In the end all Volvo will have done is get rid of hundreds even thousands of years of trucking knowledge.

In my department the 25 people left have well over 500 combined years of experience in trucking. In Greenzero the 60 people they have barely reaches 300. Quite a few employees have been there 2 years or less.

As time goes on the problem will be there are no Mack employees. Volvo people will be put into Mack positions and will not be making the right decisions for Mack they will be thinking about Volvo. Most people are choosing not to move for one reason or another. But behind all the reasons is they cannot trust Volvo.

Despite all this I still stand behind the Mack truck and am proud to work for Mack. To quote many wise men on this site "F#@k Volvo".

MP I served my apprenticeship thru Mack canada And have worked as a wrench for 3 Mack dealers for the last 30 years!I have seen the short comings and the great stuff that Mack has gone thru.The Volvo Take over has been all I predicted!But we Have to get on with whats left We need to permote the product SUCH AS IT IS,Its No worst that any of the compedidtive stuff ,It will Never be as good as it once was Thats the way it is!There aint much left on it thats mack anyway that is why they have done away with most of the mack people We Do need to support the guys and gals Like your self to the best of our abilitys!We also need to stand behind the product as best we can and try to support the customers with Good service.

Keep the spirits up bro.Hang in there And Fight the good fight.

[jonesie29]

MP I served my apprenticeship thru Mack canada And have worked as a wrench for 3 Mack dealers for the last 30 years!I have seen the short comings and the great stuff that Mack has gone thru.The Volvo Take over has been all I predicted!But we Have to get on with whats left We need to permote the product SUCH AS IT IS,Its No worst that any of the compedidtive stuff ,It will Never be as good as it once was Thats the way it is!There aint much left on it thats mack anyway that is why they have done away with most of the mack people We Do need to support the guys and gals Like your self to the best of our abilitys!We also need to stand behind the product as best we can and try to support the customers with Good service.

Keep the spirits up bro.Hang in there And Fight the good fight.

Hi All on B.M.T.

I'm a member from the UK and a truck driver and Mack enthusiast of many years, I was just reading your comments on the volvo vs Mack argument, allthough interesting some of the comments are pretty predictable, i'm having a de ja vue moment here I thought, the U.K was until a couple of years ago the home of the oldest truck builder in the world (Foden)and pretty good trucks they were until the daf company bought them out and eventualy closed them down, a similar story applies to all the UK truck builders, and now,sadly there are no british trucks names left at all. on the few visits I've made to Canada over the years I've often had conversations with truckers and operators there where I've told them of the demise of some good truck builders here, well sadly the very same companies that killed off our truck builders seem to have now turned their sights on the U.S and as I've said many times before LOOK AFTER YOUR OWN!!!, how loudly do I have to shout it, you make better trucks than them by far especially the 100% Mack trucks, you guys have got the quality of equipment we can now only dream of, you only have to read the trucking magazines and their web sites in the UK to see what a pathalogical fear the eropeans have of US built trucks and they take every opportunity to slag them down in the transport media, who of course print what their told by volvo,daf etc because they don't want to lose their adveriizing revenue, these volvo guys will go through the US truck building industry like the grim reaper and if you guys aren't carefull you'll end up like us driving up and down your highways in hideous ugly looking plastic junc filled with needless technology like a kids computer game that's just waiting for the right moment to foul up on you and spoil your day and your profits, as I saw on my last visit over the atlantic when I visited a truck show to take a look at the newest Mack's some damage has allready been done as the quality of the trucks didn't seem to be as good as I remember in the 80's and 90's, so please folks Iv'e said this before and I'll say it again try to learn from what happened to us, I know money talks but it's not worth loosing Mack It's too important a truck builder, I hope the experts in this field can try and find a way of getting it back under U.S ownership and keeping the quality in the trucks. Good luck all, I hope you get out of this economic crap storm soon, It's giving us a hard time too.

[rw613]

AMEN ON THE F#%K VOLVO THEY DONT REALIZE THEY ARE LOOSING OR PUSHING MORE AND MORE PEOPLE AWAY FROM THERE PRODUCT

[HK Trucking]

Hi All on B.M.T.

I'm a member from the UK and a truck driver and Mack enthusiast of many years, I was just reading your comments on the volvo vs Mack argument, allthough interesting some of the comments are pretty predictable, i'm having a de ja vue moment here I thought, the U.K was until a couple of years ago the home of the oldest truck builder in the world (Foden)and pretty good trucks they were until the daf company bought them out and eventualy closed them down, a similar story applies to all the UK truck builders, and now,sadly there are no british trucks names left at all. on the few visits I've made to Canada over the years I've often had conversations with truckers and operators there where I've told them of the demise of some good truck builders here, well sadly the very same companies that killed off our truck builders seem to have now turned their sights on the U.S and as I've said many times before LOOK AFTER YOUR OWN!!!, how loudly do I have to shout it, you make better trucks than them by far especially the 100% Mack trucks, you guys have got the quality of equipment we can now only dream of, you only have to read the trucking magazines and their web sites in the UK to see what a pathalogical fear the eropeans have of US built trucks and they take every opportunity to slag them down in the transport media, who of course print what their told by volvo,daf etc because they don't want to lose their adveriizing revenue, these volvo guys will go through the US truck building industry like the grim reaper and if you guys aren't carefull you'll end up like us driving up and down your highways in hideous ugly looking plastic junc filled with needless technology like a kids computer game that's just waiting for the right moment to foul up on you and spoil your day and your profits, as I saw on my last visit over the atlantic when I visited a truck show to take a look at the newest Mack's some damage has allready been done as the quality of the trucks didn't seem to be as good as I remember in the 80's and 90's, so please folks Iv'e said this before and I'll say it again try to learn from what happened to us, I know money talks but it's not worth loosing Mack It's too important a truck builder, I hope the experts in this field can try and find a way of getting it back under U.S ownership and keeping the quality in the trucks. Good luck all, I hope you get out of this economic crap storm soon, It's giving us a hard time too.

Very well said!

Actually, I fear that V*lv* has already put Mack past the point of no return, as there are so many V*lv* parts (including the "MP" engines)integrated into today's Macks, that Mack can no longer be sold off to anyone.

[ThaddeusW]

Hi All on B.M.T.

I'm a member from the UK and a truck driver and Mack enthusiast of many years, I was just reading your comments on the volvo vs Mack argument, allthough interesting some of the comments are pretty predictable, i'm having a de ja vue moment here I thought, the U.K was until a couple of years ago the home of the oldest truck builder in the world (Foden)and pretty good trucks they were until the daf company bought them out and eventualy closed them down, a similar story applies to all the UK truck builders, and now,sadly there are no british trucks names left at all. on the few visits I've made to Canada over the years I've often had conversations with truckers and operators there where I've told them of the demise of some good truck builders here, well sadly the very same companies that killed off our truck builders seem to have now turned their sights on the U.S and as I've said many times before LOOK AFTER YOUR OWN!!!, how loudly do I have to shout it, you make better trucks than them by far especially the 100% Mack trucks, you guys have got the quality of equipment we can now only dream of, you only have to read the trucking magazines and their web sites in the UK to see what a pathalogical fear the eropeans have of US built trucks and they take every opportunity to slag them down in the transport media, who of course print what their told by volvo,daf etc because they don't want to lose their adveriizing revenue, these volvo guys will go through the US truck building industry like the grim reaper and if you guys aren't carefull you'll end up like us driving up and down your highways in hideous ugly looking plastic junc filled with needless technology like a kids computer game that's just waiting for the right moment to foul up on you and spoil your day and your profits, as I saw on my last visit over the atlantic when I visited a truck show to take a look at the newest Mack's some damage has allready been done as the quality of the trucks didn't seem to be as good as I remember in the 80's and 90's, so please folks Iv'e said this before and I'll say it again try to learn from what happened to us, I know money talks but it's not worth loosing Mack It's too important a truck builder, I hope the experts in this field can try and find a way of getting it back under U.S ownership and keeping the quality in the trucks. Good luck all, I hope you get out of this economic crap storm soon, It's giving us a hard time too.

Welcome aboard!

Glad to her someones opinion from across the pond. The modernization of trucks appears to be a European thing, Here in North America its the opposite, we like keeping things old school. Must have been all those years drivers suffered in uncomfortable cab overs that caused a technology race to make the most fancy and attractive truck. Don't get me wrong I like some of that modern European truck technology but its mostly mechanical stuff and not cosmetic. I must admit that a Scania is one damn fine looking truck (P,R and the long gone T models) I also like the MAN's too.

If you look there are very few independent truck companies left. Everyone either owns another brand or two or is owned by someone else. Plenty of US/Canadian truck makers were bought up by domestic brands and killed off. Pacific, Brockway, Hayes FWD, Scott and a bunch others were bought up ran for a few more years and then closed down. Its global business and it stinks but what can ya do?

Hell I can name a bunch of those British lorry makers off the top pof my head and the companies that bought them and killed them: Scammell(Leyland), Foden (DAF-Paccar), Leyland(DAF-PACCAR), ERF(MAN), Atkinson(International). Its a shame those old lorry makers are gone, the old 60's/70's models really had some class and style (The Foden S36 and the FG come to mind).

The only indpendant truck maker in the US is International.

[gk1723]

In my opinion it is a shame what Volvy is doing to Mack.

Edited September 6, 2009 by gk2303

[james j neiweem]

If you go to the Mack web site there is an engineer there that answers questions about the 2010 models and there pollution devices. I think it is under talking SCR. If you read through the questions and replies from him (about 10 pages worth)I get the impression that he is pretty positive about Mack going forward. Granted that is his job to be positive. He is one of the transfers down to North Carolina. Give it a look see and see what ya'll think.

[ThaddeusW]

Very well said!

Actually, I fear that V*lv* has already put Mack past the point of no return, as there are so many V*lv* parts (including the "MP" engines)integrated into today's Macks, that Mack can no longer be sold off to anyone.

Never loose hope on that one. Cummins would be more than happy to sell them Mack branded engines, they don't even have to change the engine color . The damn emissions is what is killing the engine makers, too much money has to be poured into R&D for emission control. Mack struggled with that problem for years. International was smart and teamed up with MAN to design an engine for their trucks, even got a deal to use the CAT C15 block with IH fuel and emissions systems. I have to give IH credit there.

[farmer52]

I personally know Dave (the Mack SCR guy) and he IS DIE HARD MACK!!! Matter of fact I know several guys from Mack and they do not like having Volvo as their "leader".

[Double L]

I just heard the other day from a Swift driver that Swift is getting rid of all of their Volvo's even the ones that they just ordered. I'm not sure what the reason behind it is but If I had to make a guess it would be because International made them one hell of a deal on the Prostar.

[Legorigs]

People tend to look to the "old" days, when all was better. I'm not here to say Volvo is crap an Mack is better or vise versa. In my opinion it's just the same. When you buy a Mack it benefits the whole company. Would Volvo benefit from building crap Macks no person would buy, I guess not.

[jonesie29]

People tend to look to the "old" days, when all was better. I'm not here to say Volvo is crap an Mack is better or vise versa. In my opinion it's just the same. When you buy a Mack it benefits the whole company. Would Volvo benefit from building crap Macks no person would buy, I guess not.

The fact that there seems to be no real let up in this recession in spite of what the politicians are saying, will be making trading tough for all the truck builders especially the ones who trade mainly or only in the American continent, Volvo may well be in a stronger possition than most because they trade in so many countries around the world and although we are told that the whole world is in financial recession, I think that different countries may well be in different levels of recession, some may well have hardly been touched by it and I bet Volvo sell trucks and cars there too,I can't help but think of an image in my mind of Volvo flying over their mortaly wounded competitors circling around like a vulture waiting for them to die just like in the old western movies, a foolish thought I know, but having thought about Mack's situation in the long term and its ownership by Volvo, much as I dislike the situation it may well be a life saver for Mack to have them as their parent company at this time, Mack may have fallen victim to the recession by now had they not had the security of being owned by such a strong company.I just hope that the U.S and Canadian opperators can support the Mack marque, but at this time they are understadably going to go for their cheapest options, loyalty to a particular make will only go so far especially when money is so tight for everyone as it is right now. I'm quite sure though that Volvo will hang on to the make for as long it remains profitable for them, wich is why it is so important that Mack's sales people do their job really well when thing take a turn for the better. The europeans like mercedes benz, m.a.n etc made really good trucks in the late 80's and early 90's but they have seriously lost the plot with their use of technology and electronics etc in today's trucks and making just simply ugly looking trucks, maybe there's a lesson to be learned there for Mack, if it ain't broke why fix it?.

[Legorigs]

Sometimes regulation forces you to fix stuff that isn't broken. International agreements have been forcing the truckbuilders to make cleaner engines that use less fuel. If you don't keep up with this then you can surely close the doors.

[jonesie29]

Sometimes regulation forces you to fix stuff that isn't broken. International agreements have been forcing the truckbuilders to make cleaner engines that use less fuel. If you don't keep up with this then you can surely close the doors.

Sure I accept your comments, but I can't help but wonder do we really need to have so much technology and electronics, everything in the truck seems to be controlled by them not just the emissions control,the majority of problems I experience with trucks while at work involves these aspects of them, the mechanical side of them are very good and pretty well totaly reliable,it seems such a shame that after making such good progress up until the 90's in developing realy good trucks they now make them so reliant on technology, I well remember when a few Mack ultraliners were imported into the U.K a few years ago,I had a chance to take a good look at them and thought WOW! this has got to be as good as it's gets, but trading conditions between here and the U.S made them expensive, they would have been great for U.K and european use everything you needed was there, they were modern,tough, reliable, plenty of space and comfort, good fuel figures, rust free cabs and not too much technology and boy did they look great, but sadly as you know Mack discontinued the model, very sad but they must have had their reasons. I appologise for going off the original subject of your discussion but when I start talking about Mack's my passion sometimes gets the better of me.

[WILLOWRIDGE]

I am new to Mack Trucks. I have been in trucking for 20 years with Freightliner as a parts/truck salesman. I can only say one thing. Volvo is driving our bus and it is ^%$#@. I have customers willing to run with Pinnacle on the highway and I get no support from Mack(Volvo). I get all kinds of support for every other vocation but linehaul..

Its quite simply, people like the Mack product but Volvo is scared because if the doors open up, I will out sell VNs all day...................

Mack has always had a strong presence in our area. I refuse to stop being pushed around by our ugly sister company...

Every EOM from every area has a phrase or even call it a mission statement, well in my back yard we call it

"MACK PRIDE " and is growing every day in Manitoba, Canada...................

[HK Trucking]

Mack has always had a strong presence in our area. I refuse to stop being pushed around by our ugly sister company...

It's not a "sister" company, it's a big bad evil ugly "stepmother" company.

Mack is the stepchild that's on her shit list.

.

[mackbulldog64]

It's not a "sister" company, it's a big bad evil ugly "stepmother" company.

Mack is the stepchild that's on her shit list.

.

Wow I hate to see what you guys say if Volvo decides stop making Mack all togather, just like Mack did with Brockway. You never know it might happen!lol. Rather looking at all the bad things u think Volvo is doing to Mack look at all the good things also that Volvo is doing with Mack. Think posotive and not negative.

Terry

Edited September 22, 2009 by mackbulldog64

[Register c]

Oh I can see where this will end up...