Brand histories
The History of the Volvo Brand
Autopapyrus
Volvo Car Corporation (originally Volvo Personvagnar AB) is a Swedish passenger car maker. The name "Volvo" is Latin for "I roll." The company is headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Until 2010, Volvo Personvagnar was part of the Volvo Group. It was then acquired by the Chinese holding company Zhejiang Geely.
Volvo was founded in 1915 by two Swedes, Assar Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larson. At first, Volvo was just a subsidiary of SKF, a successful bearing manufacturer. In the spring of 1917, though, the first Volvo car, the "Jakob OV4," was built at the Volvo plant.
Its engine produced 28 horsepower, and its top speed was 90 km/h (56 mph). In 1935, Volvo became independent from SKF. Gunnar Engellau, a mechanical engineer with a doctorate in economics, became head of the company in 1956. He is the one who brought Volvo lasting success. In that same year, 1956, Volvo cars began to be exported to America, where 5,000 of them were sold within a year. From then on, the company's profits grew every year as production increased. In 1956, 31,000 cars rolled off the assembly line. By 1971, that figure had risen to 205,000. During this period, the noted engineer Nils Ivar Bohlin developed a new type of safety belt for Volvo, which first appeared in the world on the PV444 and P120 Amazon models.
In 1960, the P1800 arrived, a two-seat sports coupe. In 1966, production of the Volvo 144 began, with an improved braking system and crumple zones in the body. A major step forward for Volvo came in 1976, when it developed the oxygen sensor (lambda sensor) and the catalytic converter for exhaust gases.
In 1999, Volvo Personvagnar, the passenger car division of the Volvo Group, was sold to Ford for $6.45 billion. Eleven years later, in 2010, Ford Motor Company signed an agreement to sell Volvo Cars for $1.8 billion. The buyer was the large Chinese company Zhejiang Geely. As a result, the Chinese owners gained not only a controlling stake in Volvo Cars but also unrestricted access to all of the Swedish company's developments. Even so, the intellectual property rights to Volvo's technical solutions stayed with Volvo.
Despite the change of owner, the Volvo brand remains popular with many car enthusiasts, and its logo, which resembles the symbol for the planet Mars and for the male gender, is recognized around the world. Volvo's advertising rightly puts special emphasis on the high level of active and passive safety in its cars.
Until 2010, Volvo Personvagnar was part of the Volvo Group. It was then acquired by the Chinese holding company Zhejiang Geely.
How It All Began…
Volvo was founded in 1915 by two Swedes, Assar Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larson. At first, Volvo was just a subsidiary of SKF, a successful bearing manufacturer. In the spring of 1917, though, the first Volvo car, the "Jakob OV4," was built at the Volvo plant.
Its engine produced 28 horsepower, and its top speed was 90 km/h (56 mph). In 1935, Volvo became independent from SKF. Gunnar Engellau, a mechanical engineer with a doctorate in economics, became head of the company in 1956. He is the one who brought Volvo lasting success. In that same year, 1956, Volvo cars began to be exported to America, where 5,000 of them were sold within a year. From then on, the company's profits grew every year as production increased. In 1956, 31,000 cars rolled off the assembly line. By 1971, that figure had risen to 205,000. During this period, the noted engineer Nils Ivar Bohlin developed a new type of safety belt for Volvo, which first appeared in the world on the PV444 and P120 Amazon models.
In 1960, the P1800 arrived, a two-seat sports coupe. In 1966, production of the Volvo 144 began, with an improved braking system and crumple zones in the body. A major step forward for Volvo came in 1976, when it developed the oxygen sensor (lambda sensor) and the catalytic converter for exhaust gases.
In 1999, Volvo Personvagnar, the passenger car division of the Volvo Group, was sold to Ford for $6.45 billion. Eleven years later, in 2010, Ford Motor Company signed an agreement to sell Volvo Cars for $1.8 billion. The buyer was the large Chinese company Zhejiang Geely. As a result, the Chinese owners gained not only a controlling stake in Volvo Cars but also unrestricted access to all of the Swedish company's developments. Even so, the intellectual property rights to Volvo's technical solutions stayed with Volvo.
Despite the change of owner, the Volvo brand remains popular with many car enthusiasts, and its logo, which resembles the symbol for the planet Mars and for the male gender, is recognized around the world. Volvo's advertising rightly puts special emphasis on the high level of active and passive safety in its cars.
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