Volvo Cars
Volvo Cars, or Volvo Personvagnar, is an automobile maker that was founded in 1927 in the city of Gothenburg in Sweden, as a spin-off from roller ball bearing maker SKF. It was owned by Volvo until 1999, when it was acquired by the Ford Motor Company.
[[Volvo S80
Since the 1960s Volvo cars have had a reputation for safety in crashes, rather than speed or handling ability. The Volvo design team patented the 3-point seatbelt but soon after released it to the public, making Volvo the first company to offer as standard equipment this restraint. Volvo also was the first company to produce cars with padded dashboards starting in late 1956 with their Amazon model. In 2000, Volvo introduced its Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS), a safety device to prevent injury of front seat users during collisions. However by the mid-1990s there was little to distinguish most manufacturers on safety when put through tests such as EuroNCAP. In the early 1970s Volvo acquired the car-making division of the Dutch company DAF, and marketed their small cars as Volvos before releasing the Dutch-built 340 series. Smaller Volvos are still built in the Netherlands.
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2 Car models 3 Engine types 4 Gearboxes 5 See also 6 External links |
Acquired by the Ford Motor Company
Volvo, one of the largest truck manufacturers 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 midsize 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 acquisition was completed at a price of $6.45 billion USD.
Volvo now consists of two parts:
- Volvo - the manufacturing of commercial vehicles, etc. owned by Swedish interests.
- Volvo Cars - the manufacturing of automobiles owned by Ford Motor Company, in its Premier Automotive Group.
Volvo PV444
Car models
Engine types
Gearboxes
See also
External links