Truck driver.

• Author: Burritt, Chris
• Position: Volvo Trucks North America Inc CEO Marc Gustafson

The new man in the cab at Volvo Trucks gears up to move a market for its latest big rig.

The roar of big rigs rumbling along Interstate 40 in Greensboro smacks the tinted-glass headquarters of Volvo Trucks North America Inc. By the time it reaches the third-floor office of President and CEO Marc Gustafson, the racket is a muffled hum - melodic background music as he explains how he towed the heavy-truck maker out of the ditch it was in two years ago. The company was a wreck then, spewing red ink faster than oil from a blown head gasket. Sales had tanked because it was six months late rolling out its new line. With all the hype about fancier rigs, customers balked at buying older models. Inventories piled up at dealerships and factories.

That's when Swedish parent AB Volvo, brought in Gustafson, hiring him away from rival Mack Trucks Inc. He promptly replaced most of the subsidiary's top executives. The new team overhauled the sputtering company, first with deep cuts, then with heavy capital spending and aggressive marketing, including the heavy-truck industry's first Super Bowl spot.

Since last fall, Volvo Trucks has been back in the black, riding the demand for its new, plush VN line. Revenues, which had sagged to $1.3 billion in 1996, hit $1.7 billion last year. The company also is regaining market share. Two years ago, it was sixth among the seven major heavy-truck makers in the U.S. market, at 9.1%. This year, it's running fourth, at 12.0% - close to what it had before stalling. Portland, Ore.-based Freightliner Corp. is first, with 29.6%.

But the turnaround isn't complete. Gustafson, soft-spoken but tough as nails, has set his sights higher. Like a driver downshifting toward home, the 46-year-old CEO, who once sold trucks in the blazing Florida sun, now faces a long, steep road building Volvo Trucks' reputation and market share in a cutthroat business. Still, he vows that in five years he can double its share and give Freightliner a run for No. 1.

Analysts are skeptical. "Volvo has a lot of distance to make up with a couple of big guys in front of them," says Eli Lustgarten of Schroder & Co. in New York. "Without acquisition it will be unrealistic." Then he adds, "It is equally likely that Volvo could be sold."

Gustafson bristles at that suggestion. "That won't happen," he says, snapping a rubber band wrapped around the fingers of his left hand. He is banking on the new line to provide the sales growth, which he projects at 10% a year...