Volvo Trucks has sold the first series-manufactured new Volvo FH to the highest bidder on eBay for a sum of €150,000 (£120,000) – greatly exceeding the market price. All proceeds will be going to charity. Bids started at €1 (81p) on September 19, and the auction was open for 10 days to bidders from all over Europe – including Russia, Turkey and Israel.
The winning bid was placed by Jean-Pierre Ducournau, founder of Ducournau Transports in France, with a fleet of more than 300 Volvo trucks. He is now the proud owner of the first new series-built FH – a visibly unique special-edition truck with an exclusive ‘number one’ emblem on the front.
“I am so pleased to have won this auction,” Ducournau said. “In the mid-‘70s, I was first in the South of France to own a Volvo F12 truck and for several decades I have been supporting different charity auctions.”
The auction website attracted almost 165,000 visitors. All told, 35 bidders from all over Europe placed more than 95 bids for the first new Volvo FH during the 10-day auction. It was clear from the outset the winning bid would be high, since the market price was passed after just one day.
Volvo Trucks said it will donate all the proceeds to Star for Life, a South African non-profit organisation that aims to reduce the number of HIV-positive high school students. Then, in the spring of 2013, Ducournau will be invited to hand over the money in person at a ceremony in South Africa.
