Volvo looks to outside suppliers
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• Volvo recently sold its lindesberg drive-axle factory to Mentor (formerly Rockwell), under a scheme whereby the component firm will become Volvo's primary worldwide axle supplier—a move that has been seen as the end of Volvo as a vertically integrated manufacturer, making every major component itself. But Volvo vice
presi
dent Hans Folkesson says vertical integration "will always be a matter for consideration". It will be a while before the outside influence is seen directly: "The Mentor business is so new that it doesn't affect us yet—it's definitely at least a year of trials before we can introduce a bought-in component," according to product planner Philip Stocks, and the new axles seen at Gothenburg are wholly Volvo-designed. But the change toward outside suppliers is inevitable, because the FH and FM platforms are intended to be sold in many markets. As Volvo's global ambitions develop, the firm will come up against "local content" require ments in markets such as China and South America, where suppliers such as Cummins and Mentor already have plants.