Some markets make selling look easy. That can be dangerous. In 2021 and 2022, Chile's truck market reached extraordinary levels. Demand was strong and supply chains remained under pandemic pressure; in many cases, a vehicle entering production already had a buyer.
I took responsibility for Trucks in 2022. We used that momentum and reached a historic Volvo volume record. But an uncomfortable question remained: how much of our success belonged to us, and how much to the market? In 2023, we got our answer. Demand fell, availability returned and customers had alternatives again. Having the product was no longer enough. We had to create the sale.
We needed to transform a team used to capturing demand into one able to generate it: segmenting, prospecting, understanding the customer's operation, translating technical features into economic impact, demonstrating total cost of ownership and building opportunities where none had existed. We also decided not to rely solely on many small, dispersed sales. We deliberately developed mining and support operations for the forestry sector. Larger projects could create volume now and help build tomorrow's sales.
A fleet at work is stronger than any presentation. It creates experience, references and data, makes product performance visible and reduces uncertainty for the next customer. In mining, every deployment had to bring stronger specifications, safety, engineering, support and availability. In forestry, operational continuity and field response were part of the solution. Our goal was an installed base that would become future commercial credibility, not merely a large batch order.
At the same time, forecasting became a commercial process rather than a number Sales handed to the rest of the company. We built it from customers, applications, models, drivetrains, probabilities and progress through the sales cycle, connecting it with coverage, pipeline, conversion, inventory and follow-up.
Extraordinary markets can hide ordinary sales organizations. The real test comes when the cycle turns, the phone stops ringing and the customer can wait. In 2023 we had to learn to sell when the market no longer sold for us—and decide where to build the next engine of growth.