Sweden's secrets to trucking success

[kscarbel2]

Steve Skinner, Trade Trucks AU  /  June 22, 2016

The small Scandinavian country punches well above its weight as a manufacturer, and not just of trucks and buses

How does a country at the top of the world, with less than half the population of Australia, manage to produce the second biggest heavy-duty truck builder on the planet?

Sweden’s achievement with Volvo is all the more remarkable when you add that other great global brand of heavy vehicle, Scania, now majority owned by Volkswagen.

TradeTrucks recently traveled to Sweden courtesy of Volvo Group and interviewed Claes Nilsson, global president of Volvo Trucks, at the company’s Gothenburg training centre.

I asked Claes Nilsson to put brand rivalry aside in explaining the big Swedes’ secrets to success, achieved without government subsidies or protection.

He reckons there are many factors but three main ones.

"First of all we are a small country of just 10 million people," Nilsson says. "We have to be export-oriented from the start, because the domestic market is so small compared with the Germans, or the French, or the Americans or whatever, who have a big domestic market, which we don’t have the luxury of.

"Secondly … the healthy competition between the two of us (Volvo and Scania) I think has been very good for both companies.

"The respectful internal domestic rivalry between the two of us has really forced us to be on our toes all the time and try to beat the other one."

Thirdly, in being neutral during World War II, Sweden didn’t have its industry destroyed.

"So when the market came back up Sweden was very fortunate to have the machinery up and running immediately, and we and other companies definitely benefited from this," Nilsson says.

He includes there several other high-tech Swedish companies: Sandvik (tools and engineering); Atlas Copco (industrial tools and equipment); and SKF (bearings, seals, lubrication systems and more).

Marketing innovation too

Meanwhile over recent years Volvo has been putting a big effort into marketing as well as manufacturing.

A lot of us have seen the popular Volvo "stunt" online commercials, highlighting various advanced pieces of technology – for example the one featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme doing the splits between two travelling trucks, to highlight the precision of Volvo’s dynamic steering.

This sort of viral internet publicity has come as a bit of a surprise to some long-time observers of what seemed like a staid, old-fashioned and even secretive company.

"Maybe that’s also a bit back to the Swedish culture," suggests Nilsson.

"We are a rather quiet, conservative culture, not very much about bragging and things like that, so I think we’ve actually in the last 10 years or so tried to pay much more attention to how we communicate … and maybe started to be a bit more daring in our communication."

.

[Red Horse]

Interesting-never gave a thought to the impact  WW II had (or did NOT have) on Sweden.  when you look at the destruction that took place on the rest of Europe-in particular Germany- no doubt Sweden was able to hit the ground running.

[41chevy]

Never looked at the impact off WWII. But only Sweden, Switzerland were fully intact and some of USSR's industries but not exported because of Joe Stalin.  Explains quite a lot.   Paul

[kscarbel2]

I call a spade a spade. I have zero respect for Sweden's cowardly, selfish actions in World War II.

A spineless Sweden allowed the German Wehrmacht (army) to transit thru their country and attack Norway at their back door. Norway was shocked that their Scandinavian neighbor would stab them in the back. THAT is how Germany was able to capture Norway.

Second, Sweden was a principal supplier of iron ore to Nazi Germany. Had Germany been deprived of this iron ore, Nazi Germany's war production machine would have been severely crippled, from the production of U-Boats to tanks.

In my opinion, the actions of Sweden during World War II are eternally unforgivable. Thousands of American soldiers died from weapons produced with Swedish iron ore. Sweden was an accomplice to Hitler's war machine.

Related reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_of_German_troops_through_Finland_and_Sweden

[41chevy]

Add the number of Allies killed by General Motors Opel Blitz and Fords VK3000 truck production and everybody is dirty.

[BC Mack]

the Brits bought a lot of their ball bearings from Sweden during WW2... flown out inside a stripped down Mosquito.. sounds like they were selling to both sides..!!! 

BC Mack

 

[kscarbel2]

56 minutes ago, BC Mack said:

the Brits bought a lot of their ball bearings from Sweden during WW2... flown out inside a stripped down Mosquito.. sounds like they were selling to both sides..!!! 

BC Mack

 

Under the cover of "alleged" neutrality, they played both sides.

Swedish historians over the years have tried to white wash history in an attempt to hide their guilt and free their souls. They have the audacity to suggest that Sweden's simultaneous contribution to the Allied and Axis war efforts did not extend the war. 

Swedish bearing giant SKF operated plants throughout Nazi-occupied Europe, including Vereinige Kugellagerfabriken AG (VKF) in Schweinfurt, Germany. No doubt many here recall tell of the Allied bombing raids on the crucial ball-bearing plants in Schweinfurt. The Luftwaffe and anti-aircraft units (with their superb 88s) put up a all-out fight, because those plants were so critical to the German war effort, Allied losses in men and planes were very high. Thank you Sweden.

So now you know, those were Sweden's SKF plants supporting Hitler

At the same time SKF (AB Svenska Kullagerfabriken) was profiting from sales to Hitler, its was selling bearings to England via its Skefko Ball Bearing Company subsidiary in Luton, England.

The next time you buy a Volvo or Mack-branded truck, which are in fact fitted with SKF bearings..........think about that.

FYI - Volvo originated as an SKF subsidiary, and remained so until 1935.

 

[mrsmackpaul]

Wow learning heaps here and yes I think a lot of the so could neutral countries back then were making a bucket load at expense of the lives lost 

When I was a kid at school we were taught the Hitler got into power on the promise of a loaf of bread for every person because of the armistice signed after WW1 Germany had to repay the cost of the war they couldnt but the Allies demanded that they did 

Germany lost all its territories around the world after WW1 and with that they lost the ability to repay the money owed the German people were starving in the streets and Hitler promised them a loaf of  bread each if he was in power 

The thing that I remember most about learning that as a kid who was the worse, the ones allowed Hitler to have the opportunity to get into power by been unrealistic with their demands or Hitler him self    ?????

Whats that saying something about "Evil only triumphs when good people stand by and do nothing" 

Funny thing when my boy was learning about WW2 at school they dont mention any of this anymore it's almost like people are trying to change history his teachers werent happy with me let me tell ya when my boy questioned them about this

sorry way off topic

Paul 

[kscarbel2]

10 minutes ago, mrsmackpaul said:

Wow learning heaps here and yes I think a lot of the so could neutral countries back then were making a bucket load at expense of the lives lost 

When I was a kid at school we were taught the Hitler got into power on the promise of a loaf of bread for every person because of the armistice signed after WW1 Germany had to repay the cost of the war they couldnt but the Allies demanded that they did 

Germany lost all its territories around the world after WW1 and with that they lost the ability to repay the money owed the German people were starving in the streets and Hitler promised them a loaf of  bread each if he was in power 

The thing that I remember most about learning that as a kid who was the worse, the ones allowed Hitler to have the opportunity to get into power by been unrealistic with their demands or Hitler him self    ?????

Whats that saying something about "Evil only triumphs when good people stand by and do nothing" 

Funny thing when my boy was learning about WW2 at school they dont mention any of this anymore it's almost like people are trying to change history his teachers werent happy with me let me tell ya when my boy questioned them about this

sorry way off topic

Paul 

 

Paul, allowing the topic to "go where it may" is how people learn more. As always, thanks for sharing.

[41chevy]

On 6/23/2016 at 10:32 PM, mrsmackpaul said:

Wow learning heaps here and yes I think a lot of the so could neutral countries back then were making a bucket load at expense of the lives lost 

When I was a kid at school we were taught the Hitler got into power on the promise of a loaf of bread for every person because of the armistice signed after WW1 Germany had to repay the cost of the war they couldnt but the Allies demanded that they did 

Germany lost all its territories around the world after WW1 and with that they lost the ability to repay the money owed the German people were starving in the streets and Hitler promised them a loaf of  bread each if he was in power 

The thing that I remember most about learning that as a kid who was the worse, the ones allowed Hitler to have the opportunity to get into power by been unrealistic with their demands or Hitler him self    ?????

Whats that saying something about "Evil only triumphs when good people stand by and do nothing" 

Funny thing when my boy was learning about WW2 at school they dont mention any of this anymore it's almost like people are trying to change history his teachers werent happy with me let me tell ya when my boy questioned them about this

sorry way off topic

Paul 

One thing people don't know and history forgets is Stalin killed more people than Hitlers camps. Captured Germans, Civilians from German occupied territories (they were considered collaborators), re patrioted Soviet POW's, His pre WWII purge of Academia and most of the officers in the military (whom were considered threats to him).  Over 100,00 Poles killed in his invasion of Poland in 1939 (when he was an ally of Germany), equal to or slightly more than the Germans killed. 

1,516,000 returning Soviet POW's were sent to Gulags and work camps in 1945 alone, 98% died from starvation, over work or cold.

Estimated 500 to 650,000 German, Romanian and Hungarian Civilians during the advance to Berlin alone.

“Unnatural Deaths in the U.S.S.R.: 1928-1954,” I.G. Dyadkin estimated that the USSR suffered 56 to 62 million "unnatural deaths" during that period, with 34 to 49 million directly linked to Stalin from 1937 to 1947.

 

Edited June 27, 2016 by 41chevy

[mrsmackpaul]

Strange how when people talk about history these days they tend to leave a lot of details out. I had heard stories about Stalin but never learned about it at school.

A lot of people complain about modern media these days, but it is a lot harder for these types of things to go on these days but it still does.

Paul

[41chevy]

On 6/25/2016 at 4:53 PM, mrsmackpaul said:

Strange how when people talk about history these days they tend to leave a lot of details out. I had heard stories about Stalin but never learned about it at school.

A lot of people complain about modern media these days, but it is a lot harder for these types of things to go on these days but it still does.

Paul

Funny, but I get a truer picture of what is happening politically in the United States from "Radio Free Briton"   (BBC)