Volvo Cars history

The first truck, the “Series 1”, debuted in January 1928, as an immediate success and attracted attention outside the country.

In 1929 a six-cylinder PV651 model had been introduced which was both longer and wider than the Jakob.

In 1930, Volvo sold 639 cars, and the export of trucks to Europe started soon after; the cars did not become well-known outside Sweden until after World War II.

Its success helped the company to purchase its engine supplier and buy its first factory and by the end of 1931 return it’s first dividend to shareholders.

Pentaverken, who had manufactured engines for Volvo, was acquired in 1935, providing a secure supply of engines and entry into the marine engine market.

In response, Volvo developed a means of manufacturing a combustible gas from charcoal in 1939.

The first Volvo models introduced to the American market were sold in the mid 1940's, and immediately they earned a reputation for standing up to our varied climates.

On 1 September 1944, the car that would make Volvo an international car company was unveiled in Stockholm. “The little Volvo”, as it was called, was seen in Sweden as a promise of post-war prosperity and in the course of two weeks 2,300 people placed orders for the PV 444.

Plans to introduce another model, the PV60, were similarly delayed in 1946 when a sheet metal supplier could not be lined up.

By 1947 these problems were alleviated, and production began, albeit slowly.

The PV444 and the PV544 would dominate Volvo production through to the mid ‘60’s and be the first models to gain Volvo a slice of the important US market during the 1950’s.

In 1954 Volvo had built a new truck factory in Göteborg, increasing annual production capacity to 15,000 vehicles, and had introduced fuel injection systems and turbochargers on its diesel engines.

In August 1955 the first PV 444 was unloaded at a port in Long Beach, California.

Another popular model was the Volvo 120 introduced in 1956 and often called the Amazon.

Safety features and accident protection were a key factor in this cars design and this was enhanced even further in 1959 when both the Amazon and PV544 were equipped with three-point safety belts – a world first and an invention pioneered by Volvo’s head of safety engineering, Nils Bohlin.

In 1963, Volvo opened the Volvo Halifax Assembly plant, the first assembly plant in the company’s history outside of Sweden inHalifax, Canada.

The Torslanda plant, with an annual production capacity of 200,000 vehicles, opened in 1964.

As sales jumped by 70 percent in Britain, Volvo established another assembly plant in 1968, this one in Malaysia.

The Volvo 240 range replaced the 140 with even higher levels of safety and quality and was joined by the smaller Volvo 340 models from Holland to take Volvo’s sales past the 4 million mark by the end of the 1970’s.

In 1971 Gunnar Engellau retired and was succeeded by Pehr G. Gyllenhammar.

The first of these occurred in 1972, when the company acquired a 33 percent interest in the Dutch auto manufacturer DAF. The company then forged links with Renault and Peugeot.

While auto sales were hurt severely by the oil crisis of 1973-74, its inflationary effects quickly tied up consumers' funds.

In 1975 Volvo assumed greater control of DAF's auto business and changed the name of the company to Volvo Car B.V.

In 1977, Volvo proposed a merger with its Swedish rival SAAB-Scania.

In 1979, with production at an all-time peak, Volvo turned out its four millionth car.

Volvo owed much of its strength to its reputation for quality, its 1980 introduction of the first turbocharged auto, the 240, and modifications to the popular 340.

In 1981 the Dutch government exercised its option to repurchase a majority in Volvo Car B.V., increasing its interest to 70 percent and thereby reducing Volvo's to 30 percent.

In turn the Volvo 700 series of 1982 took Volvo yet another step into the exclusive market for personalised high-quality cars.

In 1986, at the height of its appeal in the United States, Volvo had sold more than 111,000 cars.

By 1990, Sweden's currency had rebounded, causing export sales to slow.

A completely new and different Volvo was launched to the world in June 1991.

In 1992 Volvo reported a loss of $469 million.

The proposed merger with Renault fell through in its final stages in 1993 leaving Volvo as one of the few remaining independent car manufacturers.

By the end of 1994 Volvo had sold this subsidiary and within a couple years had sold its pharmaceutical interests, a financial brokerage, and its food and brewing businesses.

By 1995, the company was selling fewer than 88,000 cars in the United States.

In 1997 Gyll suddenly stepped down from the CEO position and was replaced by Leif Johansson.

In fact, rumors were circulating in 1998 of a merger between Volvo and Volkswagen.

In 1999, the European Union blocked a merger with Scania AB.

Volvo Group sold its car division Volvo Car Corporation to Ford Motor Company for $6.45 billion during 2000, it was placed within thePremier Automotive Group alongside Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin.

AB Volvo acquired 13% of the shares in the Japanese truck manufacturer UD Trucks (the former Nissan Diesel) from Nissan Motor Co Ltd (part of the Renault-Nissan Alliance) during 2006 becoming a major shareholder.

Renault sold 14.9% of their stake in AB Volvo in October 2010 (comprising 14.9% of the share capital and 3.8% of the voting rights) for €3.02bn.

We’re growing fast and have achieved new sales records each year since 2015.

Volvo launches new D11, D13 and D13 with Turbo Compounding engines for GHG 2017.