Volvo History
AB Volvo (or Aktiebolaget Volvo) is a world-leading Swedish manufacturer of commercial vehicles, buses and construction equipment, drive systems for marine and industrial applications, aerospace components and services. The automaker was founded August 10, 1926 in the city of Gothenburg, as a spin-off from roller ball bearing maker SKF (Svenska Kullagerfabriken AB). Volvo Cars, the automobile manufacturer, has been owned by the Ford Motor Company since 1999.
Volvo is Latin for "I roll" or "I turn." The name Volvo was originally registered in May 1911 as a separate company within SKF AB and as a registered trademark with the intention to be used for a special series of ball bearing, but this idea was only used for a short period of time and SKF decided to use "SKF" as the trademark for all its bearing products. The company Volvo AB had no activities until the 10 August 1926 when the SKF Sales Manager Assar Gabrielsson and Engineer Gustav Larson, after one year of preparations involving the production of 10 prototypes, set up the car-manufacturing business Volvo AB within SKF group. Volvo AB was introduced at the Stockholm stock exchange in 1935 and SKF then decided to sell its shares in the company.
The first series produced Volvo automobile, called 'ÖV4' (Öppen vagn (Open wagon)-4 cylinders) left the factory on 14 April 1927. Just 996 cars were produced between 1927-1929. 'ÖV4' was replaced by model PV651 in April 1929. Volvo's first success in the automobile production came with the PV444 that was introduced in september 1944.
The Volvo Group today has more than 81,000 employees, with manufacturing in 25 countries and sales in more than 185 markets. The group provides complete solutions for financing and service. The Volvo Group's net sales 2004 amounted to €22 billion. Renault owns 20% of the Volvo Group.
Volvo Change of strategy
Among the reasons why Volvo took the initiative to sell the automobile manufacturing was the increasing development costs for new car models, coupled with the fact that it was a relatively small producer. The strategy was instead to grow as a truck manufacturer where it had a stronger market position. The buyout of Volvo Cars was announced on January 28, 1998. In the following year acquisition was completed at a price of $6.45 billion USD. Volvo used the funds from the sale of the automobile division to finance the purchase of Scania, another leading Swedish truck manufacturer, but the deal was stopped for competition reasons by the European Union. Instead Volvo acquired the commercial vehicles division of French Renault and the American truck manufacturer Mack Trucks.
Volvo Automotive's motto is "Volvo for life" attributed to the reliability and safety of their cars.
Volvo means "I roll" in Latin. Combined with their company symbol, (commonly mistaken for the male symbol) which actually stands for iron ore, stands for "Rolling Strength"
Volvo has invented many safety features now standard on passenger cars such as: 1944 Safety cage 1944 Laminated windscreen 1959 Three-point safety belts in the front 1960 Padded dashboard 1964 Prototype of the first rear-facing child seat 1966 Energy-absorbent crumple zones at both front and rear 1967 Safety belts in the rear 1968 Head restraints in the front 1969 Three-point, inertia-reel safety belts in the front 1970 Establishment of the Volvo Accident Research Team 1972 Three-point safety belts in the rear 1972 Rear-facing child seat and childproof locks in the rear 1973 Collapsible steering column 1974 Energy-absorbent bumpers 1974 Fuel tank located ahead of rear axle 1978 Child booster seat 1982 Anti-submarining protection in the front and rear seats 1982 Wide-angle door mirrors 1984 ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) 1986 High-level brake light 1986 Three-point safety belt in the centre rear seat 1987 Driver airbag 1990 Integrated child booster seat 1991 SIPS (Side-Impact Protection System) 1991 Automatic height adjustment of the front safety belts 1993 Three-point, inertia-reel safety belts standard in all seats 1994 SIPS bags (side-impact airbags) 1997 ROPS (Rollover Protection System) (convertible models) 1998 WHIPS (Whiplash Protection System) 1998 IC (Inflatable Curtain) 2000 Inauguration of Volvo Cars Safety Centre in Gothenburg 2000 ISOFIX attachment system for all child seats 2000 Dual-stage inflation airbags 2001 Volvo Safety Concept Car (SCC) 2002 Extended rollover protection system (ROPS) 2002 Development of the virtual pregnant crash test dummy 2002 RSC (Roll Stability Control) 2003 IDIS (Intelligent Driver Information System) 2003 Rear seat belt reminders (in S40 and V50) 2003 New, patented, front-end structure reduces collision forces 2003 Inauguration of Volvo's Traffic Accident Research Team in Bangkok 2004 WRG (Water Repellent Glass) 2005 Introduction of DMIC (Door Mounted Inflatable Curtain) on the All New Volvo C70.
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