Volvo Penta is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of marine diesel engines, if not the largest. Established in 1946, it’s now part of the Volvo group, one of the leading producers of construction equipment, trucks, buses, and marine and industrial engines.

Its model range is vast, consisting of 110 models powered by either diesel or petrol. With such a large range, approximately 40 different engine variants in total, there aren’t many leisure boats or yachts that Volvo Penta can’t power (until you move up to the superyacht market). The engines range from the 0.5-liter, 13bhp D1-13 to the 12.8-liter 1,000bhp D13-1000.

Volvo Penta has been responsible for many mechanical and drive advancements in the marine sector, including the turbo diesel (1954), Aquamatic sterndrive (1959), Duoprop (1983), and more recently, forward-facing drive units like the diesel-powered IPS (2005) and the petrol-driven Forward Drive (2015).

Anyone buying a new boat with a Volvo Penta engine should expect a thorough engine induction into its operation and service periods, as Volvo Penta runs a program for the handover of new engines to owners to reduce maintenance issues in the future.

Volvo Penta drive units can be found in vessels of all shapes and sizes worldwide and the company runs a comprehensive service, spares, and repairs network. Unless you’re cruising remote and distant lands, you’ll never be far from someone with the know-how or parts to get you running again.