Volvo Ocean Race - a Platform for Customer Relationships

GOTHENBURG, Sweden, Oct. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --One of the world's longest and toughest professional sporting event in the world, the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-2018, is about to get under way. And for the Volvo Group, it's more than just a yacht race. The race represents a unique opportunity to build relationships with customers and demonstrate the Group's strong commitment to working to bring about cleaner oceans.

The starting gun for the 13th edition of the Volvo Ocean Race will be fired on 22 October, when 7 identical racing boats will be leaving the Spanish host city Alicante, The race will follow its longest ever route, with the boats calling into 12 ports on 6 continents on their way to the final destination and final race in the Dutch capital, The Hague, in June 2018. The racing boats will cross four oceans and will have sailed 45,000 nautical miles in one of the world's toughest competitions by the time they cross the finish line. 

The 'race village' open in Alicante today, and a host of activities have been organised for the host city, activities that will then follow the race around the world. At every host city, the Volvo Group will have a pavilion where the public and customers can familiarise themselves with the Group's products and its latest developments in new, innovative technology.  

"The Volvo Ocean Race gets enormous media attention all over the world. Millions of fans will follow the adventure, where teams compete against each another under extreme conditions. The host cities give us unique opportunities to build business relationship with our customers, resellers and sales partners. The race gives us a platform to raise awareness of our brand, show off the breadth of our common product offering and demonstrate the Volvo Group's role in modern society," explains Henry Sténson, EVP Group Communication and Sustainability Affairs. 

During the race, a series of sustainability seminars will also take place, with the aim of raising awareness of the major problem that is the littering of the oceans, above all the enormous quantities of plastic polluting our seas.

"The issue of sustainability permeates the whole race. We want to showcase our strong engagement for a more sustainable society. The Volvo Ocean Race is a fantastic communication platform for raising awareness around the littering of the oceans, which is one of the biggest challenges we face in the field of sustainability today," Sténson concludes. 

About the Volvo Ocean Race 

The Volvo brand is shared by Volvo Cars and the Volvo Group, which means joint ownership of the Volvo Ocean Race. The Volvo Ocean Race is the leading offshore sailing race for crews, with a number of host cities that make it possible to experience the race at close quarters. The race began life in 1973 as the Whitbread Round the World Race. 

 In 2017-18, there is a renewed emphasis on the Southern Ocean and a new set of rules too ? incentivizing mixed crews of male and female sailors and more strategic innovation out on the race course. 

Read more about the race here 

Journalists who would like further information, please contact: Henry Sténson, Media Relations Volvo Group phone: +46-31-3237229 or +46-765-537229

 For more stories from the Volvo Group, please visit www.volvogroup.com/press.

The Volvo Group is one of the world's leading manufacturers of trucks, buses, construction equipment and marine and industrial engines. The Group also provides complete solutions for financing and service. The Volvo Group, which employs about 95,000 people, has production facilities in 18 countries and sells its products in more than 190 markets. In 2016 the Volvo Group's sales amounted to about SEK 302 billion (EUR 31,9 billion). The Volvo Group is a publicly-held company headquartered in Göteborg, Sweden. Volvo shares are listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. For more information, please visit www.volvogroup.com. 

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