Thus was Volvo born. The history of a brand

Torslanda Volvo factory, Gothenburg, Sweden

The Swedish brand Volvo, with headquarters in Gothenburg, is one of the world's leading automotive manufacturers in terms of driving safety.

In 1998, Volvo Cars became independent from the Volvo Corporation, which continues to manufacture trucks and buses and was acquired by the Ford Group.

Beginnings of the factory

Assar Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larson

On the 25th July 1924, engineer Gustaf Larson and
economist Assar Gabrielsson meet at a Stockholm restaurant, the Sturehof. After several hours of discussion, they decide to build a

Swedish car.                                                    

Volvo was established as a subsidiary of the Swedish bearings manufacturer SKF. It ceded one of its trademarks to give the name Volvo, which in Latin means "I roll", a slogan to prove the principal virtue of these bearings.

Its Initial Public Offering was in 1935 in Sweden, and SKF sold most of the shares of the company.

The first car design is completed in 1925. The first car came out of the factory on the 14th April 1927 and it was launched commercially in 1928. It was called "Jakob". Its success was so great that in six months the production planned for the model had been accomplished.

Jakob assembly line

Volvo produces its first vehicle

Consolidation of the factory and the brand

1930-1939. The brand benefited from the ideas of Swedish engineers who had worked in the United States.

In 1935. Gustaf Larson introduces security as the most important brand value. By then, Volvo already had 1,115 employees on its payroll.

1947-1948. The factory had 3,000 employees in 1947, a figure that doubled in 1948 with 6,000 workers.

1957. The company had 13,000 employees and an annual production of more than 50,000 cars.

1960-1969. Volvo gets its first award for the safety of its vehicles.

1962. The United States became the largest foreign market for Volvo.

1963. The figure of 20,000 employees is reached.

1976. Volvo received the Don Safety Trophy award for automobile safety.

1978. The board of Volvo proposed a merger between Saab-Scania and Volvo. The initiative was unsuccessful.

1995. The S40 and V40 models are launched in Europe, starting a new nomenclature for Volvo models. In 1998 , the S80, the safest vehicle in the world, is presented.

Volvo belongs to the PAG Group (Premier Automotive Group), a unit created by Ford, Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover.

In 2004, the brand recorded a total of 466,036 vehicles sold of the C30, C70, S40, S60, V50, V70, XC60, XC70 and XC90 models.

Today, the company belongs to the Chinese Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, which acquired 

Volvo from Ford in 2010.

Considered one of the most trusted brands in world production, Volvo has the honour of appearing since 2002 in the Guinness Book of Records thanks to an American named Irv Gordon who recorded the longest distance driven with a car: 3.2 million kilometres with a Volvo P1800.