History
Volvo is a Swedish multinational manufacturing company established in 1915 as a subsidiary of AB SKF, ball bearing manufacturer. They are primarily in the business of the production, distribution and sale of buses, trucks, construction equipment, marine and industrial drive systems and also provide financial services. The word Volvo is Latin for ‘I roll’ and is a registered trademark SKF used regarding ball bearings. The company decided any future bearing products would be sold under the name SKF. The Volvo auto company was founded in 1924 with the sole goal of creating a motorcar that could withstand Swedish climate and road conditions. AB Volvo and Volvo Car Corporation jointly own Volvo Trademark Holding AB. The main purpose of AB Volvo is the maintain, protect and preserve the Volvo device brands and to license their use on behalf of its owners.
The company has gone through many changes over the years: Volvo sold Volvo Cars to Ford Motor Company in ’99. Volvo Penta and Yamaha Motor signed an agreement involving technological partnership in December 2010 and then Ford sold Volvo to Zhejiang Holding Group. Volvo Penta has 4,000 dealers in 130 countries. In the ‘70s, Renault had technological agreements with Volvo for the development of a V6 engine. Renault Trucks has been a subsidiary of Volvo Trucks since 2001 but stopped manufacturing large vehicles by 2004 when it sold its truck and military division to Volvo and its bus and tram division to Irisbus in 1999.
Major Events
Assar Gabrielsson, an SKF sales manager, and Gustaf Larson are credited with founding Volvo in 1924. The Volvo Group manufactured their first car, the Volvo OV 4 series 1, in 1927. It was a huge success and the company sold 639 cars. Although they would export to European countries the company was not well known until after World War 2. Pentaverken manufactured the first marine engine in 1907 and was acquired by Volvo (Volvo Penta), in 1935 to design the 4-cylinder engine for the OV 4. The first assembly plant they opened outside of Sweden was built in Halifax, Canada. The Volvo Group sold their automotive division to Ford Motor Company’s Premier Automotive Group in 2000. The PAG also owns Land Rover, Jaguar and Aston Martin. Renault Véhicules Industriels was sold to Volvo in 2001 and renamed Renault Trucks and Renault S.A. became AB Volvo’s biggest shareholder as part of the deal.
Volvo has been leader of technology in the auto industry. In 1959 a Volvo safety engineer designed the first 3-point seatbelt. The steel structure of their vehicles is heralded as being unrivalled in both safety and comfort. Volvo was the first manufacturer of the rear-facing child seat in collaboration with the National Swedish Council for Road Safety. They are the first company to create a CO2-neutral vehicle plant. Volvo manufacturing plants use a minimum of energy, materials and water for truly lean manufacturing.
Going Forward
Over the years Volvo has been developing an Intelligent Transport Systems focused on improving safety and mobility through the use of communications technologies. The company’s researchers have developed a system that actually enhances safety and fuel efficiency by aiding the driver in handling the stress of being in traffic queues. Many traffic accidents occur during traffic queues because of reduced driver alertness. The system’s sensors collect information regarding the surrounding environment, deciding on the appropriate acceleration, deceleration, driving speed and steering during the monotonous task of navigating rush hour traffic. Once the system determines the congestion has subsided it will alert the driver to take over control of the vehicle. Although it may take many years to implement, Volvo’s engineers are confident their system will significantly reduce the number of traffic accidents due to human error.