Volvo Trucks President does a stunt on FMX truck

Claes Nilsson, President of Volvo Trucks, did not hesitate to stand on a truck dangling more than 20 metres up in the air as he starred in a film shot at the main harbour in Gothenburg, Sweden. Volvo’s new construction truck was put to the test. “Well, I have to admit I had butterflies in my tummy and I certainly did wonder more than once about what I’d let myself in for. I’m no mountain-climber and I don’t like heights. But I’d promised to do the stunt so I couldn’t very well back out,” said Nilsson. The film was shot from a helicopter. Everything had been prepared in advance down to the tiniest detail. He had to spend almost two hours standing on the front panel of a Volvo FMX construction truck that had been hoisted more than 20 metres above the water in Gothenburg harbour. “Of course there were many retakes and filming is a time-consuming process. It was fairly cold – about 8 degrees above zero – and the wind was blowing about 10 metres a second, so my hands got pretty cold after a while. But it all went very well. Safety was 100 per cent all the way, so I was never really afraid,” said Nilsson. “The idea behind the film – called “The Hook” – is that we wanted to show that the truck’s front towing hook is dimensioned to handle far greater stresses than those to which it is normally subjected. It’s all about spotlighting the strength and quality of our construction trucks. And you can’t do that more clearly than by hoisting the 15 tonne truck up into the air via its own towing hook,” explained Nilsson.