"A Demo’s Worth a Million Words," article by Volvo Marketing

Unbelievable! Amazing! Incredible! Those were the exclamations we heard from customers and prospects who recently drove the Volvo VNL 670 equipped with the Bendix® ABS-6 Advanced with ESP® electronic stability system.

The “ride and drive” event took place in St. Paul, MN on June 7 & 8. Volvo and Bendix worked closely with Bob Nuss, president of the Nuss Group, on the arrangements and the invitations to customers. Nuss, who operates six Volvo and Mack dealer locations throughout Minnesota, had staff and customers in attendance from all over the state.

On ‘Day 1’ 45 customers participated in the morning and afternoon sessions. An additional 35 customers attended on ‘Day 2.’ Participants included Greg Langford, fleet owner and Chairman of the Minnesota Trucking Association (MTA), as well as Sergeants Paul Davis and Jay Sletten of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

Overall reaction at each of the locations where we have conducted the ride and drive continues to be overwhelmingly positive,” said Rob Simpson, Volvo marketing product manager. “At the St. Paul event, one customer after exiting the vehicle asked his sales representative to immediately change his three-truck order to include the system. Another customer gave Bob Nuss a verbal commitment to add the Bendix ABS/ESP system to their multi-truck order. Greg Langford asked that we participate in a future meeting of the MTA, and the Department of Public Safety officers asked if we would be willing to come back and demonstrate the system, as well as give a presentation on Volvo’s overall safety commitment to their 125+ officers.”

“This event enlightened all who attended as to the safety equipment that will become commonplace in our industry in the future,” said Nuss. “As the safety leader among heavy truck manufacturers, Volvo has taken the bold first step by making this equipment standard today. That is a strong message to fleets, drivers and the motoring public that Volvo is committed to making our roads safer for everyone.”

Volvo and Bendix will be conducting further demonstrations of the system in locations throughout the U.S. and Canada during the rest of the year. Dealers, or groups of dealers, who would like a demonstration brought to their locality, should contact their district manager.

CLICK HERE FOR A VIDEO DEMONSTRATION OF BENDIX'S CAPABILITIES!