SMT Ghana, the official distributor of Volvo Construction Equipment, Volvo Trucks and Volvo Penta in Ghana, has held a grand ceremony in Accra to launch four new Volvo heavy-duty truck ranges with a strong focus on the driver’s environment, safety and productivity.
The four new-generation extra-heavy commercial trucks – the Volvo FH, FH16, FM and FMX – are the biggest in Volvo’s history, with a strong focus on making them safer, more efficient and more attractive working tools for qualified drivers.
The Grand launch was held at the Mövenpick Ambassador Hotel Accra on 16th June 2022, and brought together stakeholders in the mining, transport and haulage industry. The Special Guest was Ambassador of Sweden, H.E. Carl Michael Gräns. Also present were top management and staff of SMT Ghana led by Managing Director Mr. Alex Dutamby, and representatives of the Volvo Group led by the Vice President Africa-Volvo Trucks International, Mr. Goran Travancic.
Welcoming the Guests, Mr. Alex Dutamby underscored Volvo’s improvement in features on the new trucks, with a clear identity in terms of durability, fuel-efficiency, spacious cab and improved visibility; making them the best trucks in the construction segment.
He indicated that the trucks were built with Africa/Ghana’s tough road conditions in mind, and as such urged the mining, transport and haulage industry to target these trucks for a good return on investment. “This are new truck-range with a clear Volvo brand identity, and probably the best and toughest new version of construction trucks in the world. We are absolutely convinced that the new Volvo range, together with a comprehensive range of services from SMT Ghana, is undoubtedly the outstanding choice in the industry.”
Mr. Goran Travancic, Vice President Africa-Volvo Trucks International, in his address said the new trucks being launched give a closer look of Volvo’s special truck range – with Volvo cementing its position as the best truck manufacturer globally, and represented in many countries with successful operations everywhere including Ghana.
He said although there are challenges with populations getting bigger and climate change, Volvo will continue to produce more transports which are environmentally friendly with its 3 core values – quality, safety and care for the environment – in mind.
Special guest Carl Michael Gräns, the Ambassador of Sweden, noted that Ghana has been an important trading country to Sweden in terms of transport equipment – which is a well-known top export product in Sweden. He however expressed worry over the increased transport and road-related accidents in the country, and urged all stakeholders including government to come together and jaw-jaw to make the transport industry safer.
The products’ presentation was done by Mr. Felix Ofosu-Kontoh, Sales Director-SMT Ghana, with support from Mr. Yaw Anim Baffour, Truck Sales Manager-SMT Ghana. They highlighted the features below:
Enhanced Safety
Safety is in the Volvo DNA, and safety features of the new truck range reflect the commitment to increasing safety for all road users. Safety has been further improved with functions such as adaptive high-beam headlights in the Volvo FH and Volvo FH16. The system improves safety for all road users by automatically disabling selected segments of the high-beam when the truck approaches oncoming traffic or another vehicle from behind.
Driving is also facilitated by an improved adaptive cruise control system for speeds down to zero km/h, and downhill control that automatically activates the service brakes when extra brake force is needed to maintain constant downhill speed. The electronically controlled brake system, which is a prerequisite for safety features such as forward collision warning with emergency brake and electronic stability control, now comes as standard on the new trucks.
Fuel Efficiency
In fact, despite the cab’s larger size in all the new range, Volvo has managed to maintain the CD (Drag coefficient) value and kept the good fuel consumption by increasing the corner radius and reducing gaps. The trucks also have a new door extension that covers the upper step and sets the side turn indicator to a new position. All of these improvements help improve airflow and reduce fuel consumption.
Enhanced Productivity
The new FMX truck range has introduced a 38-tonne bogie. This will be big news for customers in heavy construction, mining and quarrying. Today, the strongest bogie can take a maximum vertical load of 32 tonnes. The new bogie takes this figure up to 38 tonnes, an increase of 5.6-tonnes net, which will increase the payload by approximately 15%.
