Volvo Trucks North America (VTNA) recently announced it has begun serial production of its redesigned VNR regional-haul tractor at the New River Valley plant in Dublin, Va. The announcement marked a key milestone in the company’s comprehensive overhaul of its on-highway portfolio amid a challenging demand environment.
The truck maker will deliver the first units off the production line to Maryville, Tenn.-based homebuilder Clayton, which built more than 60,000 homes across the U.S. in 2024.
Volvo invested $400 million in upgrades to the NRV plant, including adding a 350,000-square-foot facility for cab welding along with upgraded paint and material flow systems. The site can now produce both the VNR and the VNL.
“Built on a completely new platform … the Volvo VNR is purpose-built for navigating congested city streets, distribution centers and urban routes where visibility, precision and agility are critical,” Peter Voorhoeve, VTNA’s president, said in a statement. “We are excited to begin production and get these trucks into the hands of our customers.”
VTNA relaunched the diesel VNR in March 2025 at the American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council Annual Meeting, promising a 90% redesign of the previous iteration. The company opened its order book for the revamped tractor in September 2025.
The VNR shares the same body-in-white as VTNA’s flagship long-haul VNL but features a different cab position. Engine options include the D13 Variable Geometry Turbo engine, with ratings of 405-455 horsepower and 1,450-1,850 pound-feet of torque, and the D13 Turbo Compound engine. The truck is available in Class 8 configurations as 4×2, 6×2 and 6×4 tractors, as well as straight trucks with multiple body types.
The production milestone arrives as weaker U.S. truck demand prompts adjustments across Volvo Group’s North American operations. The company will halt production at both the NRV plant and sister company Mack Trucks’ Lehigh Valley Operations plant for isolated weeks in the first quarter of 2026.
“On the back of the weak U.S. demand during the fall, we will … have some stop weeks for Volvo and Mack in the U.S. in the first quarter,” Volvo Group CEO Martin Lundstedt told analysts during the company’s fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call. “We take stop weeks, as I said, in Quarter 1, rather than to structurally adjust further downwards.”
Despite near-term headwinds, Volvo Group raised its full-year industrywide North American Class 8 sales expectations by 15,000 trucks, or 6%, to 265,000 vehicles. The redesigned VNR and VNL are part of why Volvo executives felt confident enough in November 2024 to target a 25% share of the North American heavy-duty truck market by 2030.
