"Volvo and Scania are definitely in advance on the competition. Environmental issues have been on their minds for a very, very long time," Anders Trapp, a truck sector analyst at Swedish investment bank Enskilda Securities, told AFP.

Over the past 20 years the European Union has imposed increasingly strict standards on manufacturers of trucks weighing more than 3.5 tonnes to force them to make cleaner vehicles.

But Swedish truckmakers have independently of the EU requirements switched gears to focus on environmental concerns.

"For both it was an internal strategic decision taken many, many years ago, I would say decades. They realised quite in advance that reducing emissions would be a key issue," Magnus Axen, analyst at Evli Bank, said.

The focus on green production is not that surprising in a country where environmental protection has been in vogue since the late 1960s.

Sweden has since 2006 topped the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) over countries doing the most to protect the environment.

The European Union aims to increase the use of renewable energies like biomass, wind and solar power to 20 percent of all energy forms by 2020, while biofuels will also have to make up 10 percent of fuels used for transport.

Sweden already tops 40 percent renewable energy.

"Volvo and Scania are pioneers and to my knowledge no other manufacturers do as much in the field," according to Alexis Albert, an analyst at Natixis Securities.

On January 22, Volvo announced plans to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from its own deliveries to its factories by 20 percent in two years by reducing fuel consumption, improving logistics and increasing the use of biofuels.

Meanwhile, Scania has halved emissions from its production side over the past two decades and by 10 percent during the period 2005-2007, company spokesman Hans-Aake Danielsson told AFP.

He said CO2 cuts follow the same rhythm as productivity improvements, or six to eight percent per year. By comparison, Japanese truck maker Nissan aims to reduce emissions by seven percent over five years between 2005 and 2010.

Volvo has also begun launching 100 percent clean factories.

In September it inaugurated the world's first zero CO2 emission plant in Ghent, Belgium. The factory runs entirely on renewable energies: wind and solar power, pellet-fired biomass and an oil-fired boiler that was converted to burn bio oil.

Two other Volvo plants in Sweden are in the process of being transformed into eco-friendly factories.

Scania has meanwhile replaced chemical-based paints in favour of waterbased ones for its cabs.

"Scania also offers truckdrivers training courses on fuel efficient driving to enable them to reduce petrol consumption by 10 to 15 percent," Albert said.

The two groups have reported healthy profits in recent years -- a net profit of 1.8 billion euros (2.6 billion euros) for Volvo in 2006, 654.6 million euros (970 million dollars) for Scania -- which naturally makes it easier for them to spend money on eco-friendly initiatives.

"It's obviously easier for profitable companies to make this kind of investment that has no immediate return," Albert said.

A large part of Scania's research and development budget goes to developing cleaner products.

"We devote 50 to 60 percent of our three billion kronor (319-million-euro, 472-million-dollar) development budget to engine research. The truck industry is one of the industries that invests most in environmental improvements," according to the head of Scania's research and development Hasse Johansson.

But Volvo and Scania are well aware that this kind of expense is good for their brand image.

"This a part of the brand value. They understand it's good for their image (since) truck and car makers are accused of polluting the environment. It's a way to defend the company's image," said Trapp.

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