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Master Technicians Win Prestigious Volvo VISTA Award

11 May 1998

Master Technicians Win Prestigious Volvo VISTA Award

    ROCKLEIGH, N.J., May 11 -- Fourteen master technicians are
going to Sweden, all expenses paid, on the type of trip that car buffs dream
about.
    Last week, these men became winners of the North American 1998 Volvo VISTA
award, after a twelve month period of written tests and increasingly difficult
hands-on technical challenges.  Over 1,500 technicians throughout the US and
Canada compete annually.  Their counterparts employed at Volvo retailers
abroad also compete within their individual market areas.
    Winners from around the world meet at Volvo headquarters in Gothenburg,
Sweden May 23rd - May 30th at the VISTA Winners' Conference, the highest honor
Volvo service personnel can earn.  During this conference, the winners will be
presented with awards, special tours and the coveted opportunity to drive on
the Volvo test track typically used to test new models before they are made
available to the public.  This year's winners will have a premier chance to
drive the S80, an exciting new sedan scheduled for world introduction on
May 28th.
    "Our most qualified service personnel play a crucial role in helping us
enhance the Volvo customer experience," explains Helge Alten, President and
CEO of Volvo Cars of North America.  "The VISTA competition offers us the
opportunity to recognize and congratulate them in an especially memorable
way."
    The 1998 VISTA winners are: Frank Balch from Studio City Volvo, CA; Jim
Baldridge from Volvo of Mobile, AL; Ralph DiOrio, Jr. from Jack Scoville Ltd,
Corvallis, OR; Robert Duewall from Momentum Volvo, Houston, TX; Jeffrey Glenn
from Dick Dyer & Assoc., Columbia, SC; David Kaplan from Wentworth Motors,
Exeter, NH; Richard Kitchen of Stillpass Volvo, Cincinnati, OH; Jason Leber
from Don Docksteader Motors, Vancouver, British Columbia; James Lorimer from
Carling Motors, Ottawa, Ontario; Patrick Mucherino from Volvo of Westport, CT;
Thomas D. Quinlan from Volvo of Fort Washington, PA; Paul Roane from Goodwin's
Volvo, Topsham, ME; Robert Thoen from Herb Gordon Volvo, Silver Spring, MD;
Paul VanDoren from Camp Imports, Spokane, WA.

SOURCE  Volvo Cars of North America, Inc.