HAGERSTOWN, Md. — Volvo Group celebrated the construction of its 300,000^th 13-litre engine globally with a special ceremony at its engine plant here.

Production of Volvo’s 13-litre engines began at the company’s Skovde, Sweden plant in 2005. Today, production takes place in Sweden, Hagerstown and Curitiba, Brazil.

The milestone engine was a 500-hp D13 and was placed in a Volvo VN780 chassis at Volvo’s New River Valley truck plant in Virginia. Abilene Motor Express of Richmond, Va., took delivery of the engine.

“We are happy and humbled to have assembled the 300,000th Volvo 13-litre engine here in Hagerstown,” said Carlos Hungria, senior vice-president and chief operating officer, Volvo Powertrain. “This is a significant global occasion that solidifies the longevity and reliability of the engines powering Volvo Group products throughout the world. We’re particularly pleased that our 300,000th is an EPA2010-certified D13 engine that meets the most stringent emissions standards in the world.”

“As one of the world’s largest producers of heavy-duty diesel engines, we’ve made the investments – both globally and here in Hagerstown – to ensure we remain on the leading edge of powertrain development and production,” added Volvo CEO Denny Slagle.  “The fact that we were the first certified to the EPA10 standards, and were ready early enough to begin filling orders last fall, is a testament to our powertrain expertise.”