The latest version of the VNR, unveiled at TMC 2025, has a 90% redesign from the previous iteration. The VNR originally debuted in April 2017. (Volvo Trucks North America)
February 23, 2026 11:51 AM, EST
Key Takeaways:
- VTNA began serial production of the redesigned VNR at its New River Valley plant after investing $400 million in facility upgrades.
- Weaker U.S. truck demand is prompting stop weeks for Volvo and Mack in the first quarter of 2026.
- Volvo Group expects North American Class 8 sales to rise to 265,000 vehicles in 2026.
Volvo Trucks North America recently began serial production of the latest iteration of its VNR tractor at the New River Valley plant in Dublin, Va.
In doing so, VTNA met a schedule for the revamped manufacturing facility laid out to Transport Topics in October by the Volvo Group unit’s top executive, Peter Voorhoeve.
The truck maker opened its order book for the revamped VNR in September.
VTNA relaunched the diesel VNR in March at American Trucking Associations’ 2025 Technology & Maintenance Council Annual Meeting in Nashville, Tenn., promising a 90% redesign of the previous iteration.
Engine options include the D13 Variable Geometry Turbo engine, with ratings from 405 to 455 horsepower and 1,450-1,850 pound-feet of torque, and the D13 Turbo Compound engine.
The VNR is available in various Class 8 configurations, including as 4×2, 6×2 and 6×4 tractors, as well as straight trucks with multiple body types.
Two trim levels are offered: the Core trim is a durable interior targeting regional-haul applications; the Edge trim offers additional driver comfort and premium features.
The VNR originally debuted in April 2017, replacing the VNM, which had been around since the 1990s.
“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. We are excited to begin production and get these trucks into the hands of our customers,” Voorhoeve said in a statement accompanying the announcement of the start of production.
VTNA will deliver the first trucks off the production line to Maryville, Tenn.-based single-family homebuilder Clayton. In 2024, Clayton built more than 60,000 homes across the U.S.
VTNA’s flagship long-haul tractor, the VNL, and and VNR both can be produced at the New River Valley Plant in Dublin, Va. (Volvo Trucks North America)
The NRV site can produce both the VNR and the truck maker’s overhauled flagship longhaul tractor, the VNL.
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.
Operations began at NRV’s plant 2 for the first time in June 2024 after VTNA also redesigned every square inch of the existing plant 1 as part of the upgrades.
However, demand for trucks continues to fail to meet expectations.
Volvo Group will halt production at both NRV and sister company Mack Trucks’ Lehigh Valley Operations plant for isolated weeks in Q1 2026.
VTNA and Mack halted production at the plants on certain days in the final quarter of 2025, but demand from fleets remained so subdued that the facilities will shut down assembly lines for a week at a time at various points in the first quarter, Volvo Group CEO Martin Lundstedt told analysts Jan. 28.
“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. And we [will] take stop weeks, as I said, in Quarter 1, rather than to structurally adjust further downwards,” Lundstedt said during Volvo Group’s fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call.
VTNA and sister brand Mack Trucks halted production on certain days in the final quarter of 2025 and will shut down assembly lines for a week at a time at various points in the first quarter. (Volvo Trucks North America)
However, Volvo Group is increasingly optimistic about the prospects for North American demand growth as 2026 progresses, lifting its full-year industrywide Class 8 sales expectations by 15,000 trucks, or 6%, to 265,000 vehicles.
The redesigned VNR is part of a comprehensive overhaul of VTNA’s on-highway tractor portfolio, after the Volvo Group unit unveiled the VNL revamp in January 2024. The VNR is the same body-in-white as the VNL but has a different cab position.
Both redesigns are part of why Volvo executives felt confident enough in November 2024 to say they were targeting a 25% share of the North American heavy-duty truck market by 2030.
VTNA sister group Mack Trucks also overhauled its on-highway tractor lineup as a component of these ambitions.
In 2025, VTNA’s North American heavy-duty truck market share was 8.4%, down from 9% in 2024, the parent company said, while Mack’s share rose to 8% from 6% on the back of an improved supply chain and relatively strong demand in the vocational segments.
