Polish victory in Scania Young European Truck Driver 2007

Polish victory in Scania Young European Truck Driver 2007

Marek Szerenos from Poland was today crowned Young European Truck Driver 2007
after an exciting final in Sweden. Marek Szerenos, 34, beat 26 other talented
young professional truck drivers from countries throughout Europe to secure the
prestigious title and the first prize; his own tailor-made Scania truck.

Young European Truck Driver (YETD) is a part of the global initiative set up by
Scania in 2003 to promote responsible driving, highlight road safety and attract
more young drivers into the profession.  Marek Szerenos will now become an
ambassador for the truck driver profession and a role model for other drivers.  

Tom Sharkey from Ireland was runner up in the competition and Milan Jakúbek from
Slovakia came third.   

“This is a big thing that has happened to me. I feel as happy and proud as I did
when my children were born,” said Marek Szerenos just after he had been awarded
winner by Scania's President and CEO Leif Östling.

 “On a serious note, road safety is so important to me in my job and I am proud
to become a role model to other young aspiring truck drivers.”

The road to the final wasn't easy for Marek Szerenos  - not only did he have to
come through an initial qualifying round and then regional heat in his own
country, he also had to battle it out with ten other truck drivers in the Polish
national final. In total over 16,000 young truck drivers under the age of 35
entered the competition from 27 European countries. 

The tests at the final included defensive and fuel-economy driving, cargo
securing, test before driving and safety manoeuvring. The drivers had to prove
they had the skills and attitude of a responsible driver of heavy trucks and
complete a range of complex manoeuvring tests and obstacles."Marek Szerenos has made a fantastic achievement. Not only has he won a new
Scania truck, he is now an ambassador for the profession and a role model to
aspiring young drivers throughout Europe. All the competitors who took part in
the YETD 2007 final should be proud of their achievements - and the final
congratulations go to Marek Szerenos,” says Cecilia Edström, Senior Vice
President and head of Scania Corporate Relations.

“The driver is absolutely the most important factor in heavy vehicle transport
services. Vehicles and infrastructure are obviously of major significance, but
road safety is primarily a matter of human behaviour. Through these
competitions, we want to help raise the status of professional drivers and
emphasise their great importance to both road safety and the profitability of
transport companies. We want to help attract more young, capable drivers into
the transport business,” says Cecilia Edström.
Young European Truck Driver started in 2003 and is held every two years.
Contestants may be no more than 35 years old.

With more than 300,000 trucks on European roads, road safety is a high-priority
area in all of Scania's operations. The company supports the aims of the United
Nations' "World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention" and the European
Commission's goal of halving the number of traffic fatalities in the EU by 2010.
In addition to training drivers, Scania works to raise road safety awareness
among the public, legislators and customers. Road safety is also a high priority
in Scania's research and development, which focuses on technology that helps
drivers to make the right decisions.

Scania's Young European Truck Driver initiative has the endorsement of the
European Commission and the International Road Transport Union (IRU). Its
sponsors are Michelin and Shell. Scania is also running  similar competitions in
Latin America,  as well as in Africa and Asia.

Photos from the final are available on Scania's homepage.

For further information, please contact: Hans-Åke Danielsson: +46 (0)8-553
85662, 
+46 (0)70-346 8811 





Scania is one of the world's leading manufacturers of trucks and buses for heavy
transport applications, and of industrial and marine engines. A growing
proportion of the company's operations consists of products and services in the
financial and service sectors, assuring Scania customers of cost-effective
transport solutions and maximum uptime. Employing 32,800 people, Scania operates
in about 100 countries. Research and development activities are concentrated in
Sweden, while production takes place in Europe and South America, with
facilities for global interchange of both components and complete vehicles. In
2006, invoiced sales totalled SEK 70.7 billion and the net income amounted to
SEK 5.9 billion. 


Scania press releases are available on the Internet at www.scania.com