LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — Göran Nyberg is a very satisfied business leader. As president of Volvo Trucks North American Sales, he has been seeing numbers that the company didn’t expect.

“I’m happy to announce today, that we have been able to exceed our expectations in fuel efficiency. The new greenhouse gas [certified] 2014 engines are delivering up to 3% extra fuel efficiency, bringing value, bringing dollars to our customers,” he told a crowd of reporters at the Mid-American Trucking Show (MATS).

“The further development of integrated powertrains comes next. We will have greenhouse gas [20]17 just around the corner. And our ambition is to utilize our platforms and further enhance our technologies to deliver even greater fuel efficiency.”

In order to achieve improved fuel efficiency results, Nyberg said there are some will have to be some changes made.

“You will see greater integration on aerodynamics between the truck and trailer, and of course we will continue to improve our aerodynamics on the cabs.”

He also spoke about another visible-on-the-highway change that is expected shortly.  

“6 x 2 is coming into the market. We have our latest concept with the liftable axle, which gives you extra value in dollars saved, in fuel saved.

“We will continue to drive the development of our XE powertrain packages. We will continue to drive the development of natural gas and DME-powered vehicles. An even in the short-term market, we are working actively with Cummins and Westport solutions.”

Nyberg said the company’s DME project is making”good progress.” Currently there are four vehicles out as test trucks and between three-and-five used as internal testers. Two more will be released by the end of the year.

One area the company is working on is one that won’t be visible on the road: reliability.

“What about up-time? Up-time has become as important as fuel efficiency. I would say it isn’t a customer meeting if we don’t talk about the importance of turnaround times and up-times and vehicle performance.”