Volvo, Mack to Exhibit at 2017 NACV; Volvo to Skip MATS

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Transport Topics  /  September 6, 2016

Volvo Group’s two North American operating companies have agreed to exhibit at the North American Commercial Vehicle Show in Atlanta a year from now, and will either reduce or drop their connection with the Mid-America Trucking Show in 2017.

The confirmation from Mack Trucks came on Sept. 1 as part of the original equipment manufacturer’s ride-and-drive press event here.

A Volvo Trucks spokesman added a statement on Sept. 3.

“Mack has signed a letter of intent to exhibit at the first North American Commercial Vehicle Show. We are still working through our position on MATS,” says John Walsh, Mack’s marketing vice president.. “Volvo Trucks will be at the North American Commercial Vehicle Show but will not be attending MATS in 2017,” says VTNA spokesman John Mies.

(In July 2015, Volvo spokesman Avery Vise told Transport Topics that Volvo would return to MATS in 2017, the opposite of John Mies’ statement today.)

In May, NACV Show executives announced similar deals with Daimler Trucks North America and Navistar International Corp. The inaugural exhibition will be Sept. 25-29 at Atlanta’s Georgia World Congress Center.

Those two OEMs said their subsidiaries or some dealerships might choose to maintain a presence at Mid-America, but their large, corporate-wide exhibits will move to NACV for at least its first three shows, in 2017, 2019 and 2021.

NACV was created to run in odd-numbered years as a North American complement to the IAA Commercial Vehicles show in Hanover, Germany, which runs in even-numbered years for the European industry.

Kenworth Trucks and Peterbilt Motors have not yet announced decisions on their 2017 marketing plans.

MATS, held every spring in Louisville, Kentucky, since 1972, has been North America’s largest truck show, but this year none of the seven manufacturers of heavy trucks displayed there, saying they want to switch to an every-other-year model.

Related reading - http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/40797-volvo-becomes-second-oem-to-pull-out-of-mats-next-year/