The UAW is ‘deeply disappointed’ by the decision

Volvo announces additional investment in Mexico

Volvo announced its decision about its new factory in Mexico on Thursday.

The Mack LVO plant in Pennsylvania and the Volvo NRV plant in Virginia will continue to be the company’s primary heavy truck production sites in North America. The group has invested more than $73 million over the past five years in expanding and upgrading LVO, and is currently investing an additional $80 million to prepare for future production.

The NRV plant is completing a six-year, $400 million expansion/upgrade to prepare for production of the new Volvo VNL model.

The new plant will have approximately 1.7 million square feet and will focus on the production of classic trucks for the Volvo and Mack brands. This will be a complete vehicle assembly center including taxi body manufacturing and painting.

Support sales and growth plans

The Volvo Group has announced that it will build a new truck manufacturing plant in Mexico to “support the group’s production in the United States.” The plant will provide additional capacity to support growth plans for Volvo Trucks and Mack Trucks in the US and Canadian markets, as well as support sales of Mack trucks in Mexico and South America, it said. The plant is expected to be operational in 2026.

Increasing production in Mexico will provide equipment efficiencies to support sales in the southwestern/western United States, as well as Mexico and South America, Volvo adds.

Additional goal: also give “a mature distribution and production system that will complement the American system and increase the stability and flexibility of the North American industrial direction of the group. »

UAW union to investigate contractual obligations

In a letter released Thursday, the UAW union said it was reviewing contractual obligations regarding truck production levels at the LVO plant and the potential legal implications of Volvo’s Mexico decision.

“This is a slap in the face for all of us,” said Tim Hertzog, president of UAW Local 677, adding that the company notified the union of the plans 15 minutes before the announcement.

Sources : Reuters, Volvo, UAW