Swedish Team Triumphs in First "World Championship" For Volvo Service Personnel

GOTHENBURG - June 28, 2007: Team Skywalker from Sweden were crowned World Champions 2007 at the end of an exciting and tense VISTA competition for Volvo's truck and bus service personnel in Gothenburg on Tuesday. On this occasion, the event took the form of a World Championship for the first time in its history. In all, over 3,200 teams comprising a total of 12,000 competitors took part in the training and qualification stages of VISTA 2007.

VISTA, the world's biggest competition for service personnel, celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, while 2007 also marks the 50th year since the event was first held by Volvo. Reflecting the growth of VISTA over the years, the 2007 jubilee year competition was a global event in which the winning team earned the title of World Champions.

VISTA 2007 commenced in October 2006 with the first of three theoretical rounds, in which 3,245 teams numbering almost 12,000 competitors assembled at 1,010 dealerships in 68 countries to solve truck and bus problems.

All of the teams competed in a further two theoretical rounds, followed by a major ‘cull’ to reduce the field to 160 teams for the regional semi-finals. These took the form of theoretical and practical assignments that were carried out in March-April in eight cities in five parts of the world. This yielded the final selection of 28 teams from 24 countries – the absolute cream of Volvo’s worldwide service network – that went forward to contest the World Championship title.

At the Volvo Trucks Training Centre in Gothenburg, the 28 finalists spent a complete day taking on 14 difficult practical tests. The competition was intense, with the smallest possible margin separating the German and Danish teams that came second and third respectively, with Team Skywalker from Sweden taking the top prize.

“It’s fantastic to be able to call ourselves World Champions in service expertise,” said a delighted Roger Ihrelius, captain of Team Skywalker - who was competing in VISTA for the ninth time.

He went on, “VISTA shows the level of expertise that modern trucks and workshops demand of our professional group. Volvo’s serious commitment to the competition represents major recognition for its service personnel in every workshop around the world.”

Staffan Jufors, President and CEO of Volvo Truck Corporation, sees major advantages in the competition, “In effect, VISTA is a comprehensive training programme for all of our service personnel, but in the form of an exciting competition,” he says. “We estimate that VISTA 2007 totalled a training input of 275,000 hours.

He added, “Volvo must offer its customers the best service in the world and VISTA reflects that high objective. It helps to enhance the status of the service trade and enables us to attract the best talents into our workshops.”

The delighted members of Team Skywalker explain that they are already planning for autumn 2008 as “That’s when VISTA 2009 kicks off – and we fully intend to defend our crown !” they explained.