GOTHENBURG, Sweden — Registration opens Sept. 30 for the world’s largest service market competition, the Volvo International Service Training Awards, also known as VISTA.

Nearly 20,000 technicians from Volvo Trucks and Volvo Buses global dealer networks are expected to participate in the 2019-20 contest, the company said.

The main objectives of the competition are to encourage team spirit and pride, while also inspiring self-improvement and competence development, it said.

“A top-of-the-line service network is crucial for our customers’ truck business,” said Roger Alm, president of Volvo Trucks.

“VISTA shows how important our mechanics are and, at the same time, the competition improves our skills so we can deliver outstanding service provided by the best service crews in the world.”

VISTA started in 1957 and was originally aimed at Volvo technicians in Sweden. By 1977, it had expanded globally, attracting authorized Volvo dealers from all over the world.

In the most recent competition held during 2017-18, 240 teams qualified for the semi-finals, held in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The top 40 teams then competed in Curitiba, Brazil, in June 2018 at the VISTA World Championships, with the Estonian team Viies Ratas ultimately winning the competition.