This article is about Volvo Car Corporation. For commercial vehicles, see Volvo Group.
Volvo Personvagnar AB
Volvo Car Corporation
Type Subsidiary
Industry Automotive
Founded April 14, 1927
Founder(s) SKF, Assar Gabrielsson and Gustav Larson
Headquarters Gothenburg, Sweden
Key people Li Shufu (Chairman)
Stefan Jacoby (President and CEO),
Hans-Olov Olsson (Vice-Chairman)
Products Automobiles, Engines
Revenue US$12.442 billion (2009)[1]
Employees 19,650 (2009)[1]
Parent Zhejiang Geely Holding Group
Website VolvoCars.com
Volvo Car Corporation, or Volvo Personvagnar AB, is a Swedish automobile manufacturer founded in 1927, in Gothenburg, Sweden. It is owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.[2] Volvo was originally formed as a subsidiary company to the ball bearing maker SKF. When Volvo AB was introduced on the Swedish stock exchange in 1935, SKF sold most of the shares in the company. Volvo Cars was owned by AB Volvo until 1999, when it was acquired by the Ford Motor Company as part of its Premier Automotive Group. Geely Holding Group then acquired Volvo from Ford in 2010.[3]
Volvo produces models ranging from SUVs, station wagons (estates), and sedans (saloons), to compact executive sedans and coupes. With approximately 2,300 local dealers from around 100 national sales companies worldwide, the US is Volvo Cars' largest market, followed by Sweden, Great Britain, Germany and China. In 2009 Volvo recorded global sales of 334,808 cars.[1]
Volvo is often compared to and nicknamed tractors,[4][5] partially because Volvo AB was and still is a manufacturer of heavy equipment, earlier Bolinder-Munktell, now Volvo Construction Equipment. Some consumers considered older models to be slow and heavy,[6] thus earning the distinction, "brick",[7] as a term of endearment for the classic, block-shaped Volvo, with the more powerful turbocharged variants known as "turbobricks".[7] The company moved away from the boxy styles of the 1970s and 1980s, to models which gained a reputation for sporting performance, including the factory-supported Volvo 240 turbos, which won the 1985 European Touring Car Championship (ETC) and 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC).[8]
Volvo is known for its high safety standards. Owners are often proud of achieving high mileage;[9] one well-documented 1966 Volvo P1800 has been driven over 2.8 million miles, a Guinness World Record for most miles driven by a single owner in a non-commercial vehicle.[10] According to some figures, the average age of a Volvo being discarded is 19.8 years, second only to Mercedes.[11]
Volvo cars picsVolvo company was founded in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1927. The company was created as a subsidiary company 100% owned by SKF. Assar Gabrielsson was appointed the managing director and Gustav Larson as the technical manager."Cars are driven by people. The guiding principle behind everything we make at Volvo, therefore, is and must remain, safety", Assar Gabrielsson and Gustav Larson 1927.
Volvo logotype (PRV-registr.) 1927The trademark Volvo was first registered by SKF the 11 May 1915 with the intention to use it for a special series of ball bearing for the American market, but it was never used for this purpose. SKF trademark as it looks today was used instead for all the SKF-products. Some pre-series of Volvo-bearings stamped with the brand name 'Volvo' were manufactured but was never released to the market and it was not until 1927 that the trademark was used again, now as a trademark and company name for an automobile.
The first Volvo car left the assembly line April 14, 1927, and was called Volvo ÖV 4. After this the young company produced closed top and cabriolet vehicles, which were designed to hold strong in the Swedish climate and terrain. In the registration application for Volvo logotype in 1927, they simply made a copy of the entire radiator for ÖV4, viewed from the front.
In 1964 Volvo opened its Torslanda plant in Sweden, which currently is the one of its largest production sites (chiefly large cars and SUV). Then in 1965 the Ghent, Belgium plant was opened, which is the company's second largest production site (chiefly small cars). Finally in 1989 the Uddevalla plant in Sweden was opened, which is now jointly operated by Volvo Car Corporation and Pininfarina of Italy.
Volvo ÖV4 Touring 1927
Volvo PV4 4-Door saloon 1927
Volvo 144 saloon 1972
Volvo 850 estate
2002 Volvo S80A collection of Volvo's most important historical vehicles are now housed in The Volvo Museum, which opened in a permanent location in Arendal at Hisingen on May 30, 1995.[12] For several years, the collection had been housed at "The Blue Hangar," at the then closed Torslanda Airport.[12]
In the early 1970s, Volvo acquired the passenger car division of the Dutch company DAF, and marketed their small cars as Volvos before releasing the Dutch-built Volvo 340, which went on to be one of the biggest-selling cars in the UK market in the 1980s.
Volvo Group, as one of the largest manufacturers of commercial vehicles in the world, took the initiative to sell its automobile manufacturing in 1998 in order to fully focus its efforts on the market for commercial vehicles.
Ford, on the other hand, saw advantages in acquiring a profitable prestige mid-size European automobile manufacturer, well renowned for its safety aspects, as an addition to its Premier Automotive Group. The buyout of Volvo Cars was announced on January 28, 1998, and in the following year the acquisition was completed at a price of $6.45 billion USD.
As a result of the divestiture, the Volvo trademark is now utilized by two separate companies:
Volvo Group – a manufacturer of commercial vehicles, etc. owned by Swedish interests.
Volvo Car Corporation or Volvo Cars – a manufacturer of automobiles owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and formerly owned by Ford Motor Company
Volvo cars pics
Volvo cars pics.jpg)
Volvo cars pics
Volvo cars pics
Volvo cars picsFord management
Volvo Car Corporation was part of Ford Motor Company's Premier Automotive Group (PAG). Since its acquisition by the PAG, the company has grown in its range of vehicles. It had been the only brand left in the group since the sale of Jaguar, Aston Martin and Land Rover.
After the sale of Jaguar Land Rover to Tata Motors of India, Ford decided to keep Volvo Cars despite mounting losses and gross economic down turns. Ford decided to restructure plans for Volvo Cars, pushing it further upmarket alongside the lower end of Mercedes and BMW sedans, wagons, and SUV crossovers. The outcome was the luxurious second generation Volvo S80 and the new small premium crossover Volvo XC60.
Talks were held about the fate of Volvo Cars in the event of failure of US automakers, including Volvo's parent Ford. Swedish concerns mounted after repeated mass layoffs at Volvo, prompting Sweden to enter the spotlight to help its automotive industry. The government was asked to look into a possible state ownership of Volvo, or financial bailout for Volvo Cars and SAAB of GM. Eventually, AB Volvo responded to heated talks and decided that they do not want to see Volvo Cars fail, so they agreed to help Volvo cut costs through partnerships and even a possible share ownership amongst a larger consortium. AB Volvo repeated and stood stern that they will not buy back Volvo cars nor be sole majority owner. They are only willing to become part share owner of their erstwhile car unit.
Ford announced in December 2008 that it was considering selling Volvo Cars and making complex evaluations; a sale price of US$6 billion was reported,[13] but meanwhile it will try to make Volvo an independent company. The Swedish government was interested in helping with a possible Swedish acquisition of Volvo Cars in the near future along with AB Volvo. It was believed that BMW AG of Germany, Investor AB of Sweden, Chinese investors, or Russian investors were all possible candidates for purchase. Ultimately price was thought not to be the sole factor in the sale – Volvo Cars preference for its new owner, as well as the long-term strategic interest of Ford, will also influence the decision. Besides, AB Volvo must release the trademark rights to the new owner. Ford ultimately chose Geely Holding Group to acquire Volvo Cars.
Geely initially denied the plan for buying Volvo,[14] followed by denials from both Ford and Volvo.[15] After later estimates suggested that Volvo is only worth US$1-1.5 billion,[16] Geely's parent company, Geely Group Holdings Co., planned to bid for Volvo,[17] with Goldman Sachs investing HK$2.59 billion (334 million USD) to the holding company.[