GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Volvo Group for the first time announced its projections for 2018 Class 8 retail sales, with a bullish projection of 260,000 retail sales expected in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

That’s coming off an anticipated 235,000 units this year, and Magnus Koeck, vice-president of brand management and marketing for Volvo Trucks North America, said during a press conference at ExpoTransporte that next year’s estimate could be conservative.

“That might be on the lower end,” he said of the 2018 forecast. “Some institutes have come out with as much as 308,000, 309,000. We will see if that will hold. The good thing in this is we launched our products this year and I think our timing couldn’t be better, because we are ramping up the plant as we speak and we will be ready to sell these trucks next year in what seems to be a growing market.”

Volvo revealed to the Mexican market for the first time, it’s new VNR and VNL trucks, as well as a new VAH auto-hauler. Koeck emphasized the importance of the Mexican market to Volvo, which he says is a true global producer, selling trucks in more than 140 countries and manufacturing them in all continents. Ironically, all Volvo trucks sold into the Mexican market are built in the U.S., while many competitors build trucks in Mexico for export into the U.S. and Canada.

“We have been in Mexico for quite some years,” Koeck said. “I have to admit, we haven’t don’t that fantastic here lately, but we have a lot of good things in place now. Mexico is an important market for us globally. It’s pretty much the same size as Canada in terms of total market, at roughly 25,000 to 27,000 units a year. Mexico is one of our top 10 most important markets globally. We are doing lots of investments and we are here to stay.”

Koeck said bringing the all-new models to Mexico is a sign of its commitment to the market.

Expanding its product line also opens new opportunities for the brand here. Before the launch of the new VNR and VNL, as well as an expanded VAL line, Volvo was represented in Mexico almost solely by the VNL series for long-haul.

“Expanding our product range makes Volvo Trucks even more competitive in the Mexican market,” said Göran Nyberg, president of Volvo Trucks North America. “We now have innovative, leading products for regional haul, longhaul and auto-hauler operations.”