VOLVO is gearing up to launch into the UK light truck market with the arrival of the Canter range. The company is already an established player in the HGV sector, but as Fleet NewsNet reported last year, the Canter - badged as and built by Mitsubishi in Portugal - marks its first foray into the LCV sector.

A range of body styles will be available in weights ranging from 3.5 to 7.5 tonnes when the vehicles go on sale this month, when prices will be announced. The new venture is the result of Volvo's ongoing partnership with Mitsubishi, which has lead to an increasing level of co-operation between the two manufacturers, including the establishment of the joint Carisma/S40and V40 factory in Holland.

It gives Mitsubishi a ready-made specialist distribution network across Europe and Volvo an established brand in the light truck sector, where it currently has no products. Additionally, Volvo will benefit from increased sales of its HGVs through Mitsubishi's dealer network in Japan and both companies believe the economies of scale will help them tackle an increasingly competitive European market more efficiently.