Volvo stacks trucks (and its president) on top of each other in latest stunt film

Volvo Trucks' Epic Split, with its award-winning combination of Jean-Claude Van Damme, Enya and a couple of parallel trucks, is probably the brand's most famous, mind-boggling stunt in its "Live Test" series.

But even without the action hero, the brand continues to dream up more antics few would want to try at home. In its latest effort from Forsman & Bodenfors, Volvo Trucks has tapped its president Roger Alm to be its stuntman.

A dramatic video depicts a massive vehicle beast—a tower of four Volvo trucks stacked atop each other, driving down the road through a thunderstorm and stalked by wolves. It then reveals Alm in heroic form, standing atop them all (somewhat reminding us of Sauron in "Lord of the Rings"). Like "Epic Split," it's directed by Andreas Nilsson, via Bacon. The music is "Conquest of Paradise," by Vangelis.

The film promotes the launch of Volvo Trucks' heavy duty range in Europe, which includes the Volvo FH, Volvo FH16, Volvo FM and Volvo FMX—what the brand says is its biggest ever launch. It was shot in late 2019 on a testing ground outside Volvo’s hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden. Volvo states that the truck tower and the majority of the visual effects are real, including the smoke and lights. You can see that, and more, in the behind-the-scenes film, below.

”It took about a month to design and build the tower and make sure it was safe to drive. Essentially, this was made possible thanks to the sturdy construction truck, the Volvo FMX, and its new 38-tonne bogie being able to carry the weight of the others. But it also required a steady speed and course, accomplished by the Volvo Dynamic Steering technology and a skilled truck driver,” said Markus Wikström, engineer at Volvo Trucks and part of the engineering team behind the tower, in a statement.

It seems that death-defying stunts have become something of job requirement for Volvo Trucks execs. In 2013, the company's then-president Claes Nilsson also dared to stand on top of a truck—but that one was dangling in the sky from a giant crane.