Volvo

Volvo Cars is the luxury car maker using the Volvo Trademark.

AB Volvo
Volvo logo
	Public ()
Founded	1926
Headquarters	Gothenburg, Sweden
Key people	Leif Johansson, President and CEO
Industry	commercial vehicles
Products	Trucks Buses Construction equipment Automobiles Drive systems for Marine and Industrial applications (Volvo Penta) Aerospace components Financial services
Revenue	258 billion SEK (2006)
Operating income	20.4 billion SEK (2006)
Employees	83,187
Website	www.volvo.com

The Volvo Group is a Swedish supplier of commercial transport solutions providing products such as trucks, buses and construction equipment, drive systems for marine and industrial applications, aerospace components and financial services. The then auto manufacturer was founded on April 14, 1927 in the city of Gothenburg, as a spin-off from the roller ball bearing maker SKF. Volvo delisted from NASDAQ in June, 2007, but remains listed on the Stockholm exchange^[1].

Volvo means "I roll" in Latin, conjugated from "volvere". The name Volvo was originally registered in May 1911 as a separate company within SKF AB and as a registered trademark with the intention to be used for a special series of ball bearing, but this idea was only used for a short period of time and SKF decided to use "SKF" as the trademark for all its bearing products.

The company AB Volvo had no activities until 10 August, 1926 when the SKF Sales Manager Assar Gabrielsson and Engineer Gustav Larson, after one year of preparations involving the production of 10 prototypes, set up the car-manufacturing business Volvo AB within SKF group. Volvo AB was introduced at the Stockholm stock exchange in 1935 and SKF then decided to sell its shares in the company.

The first series produced Volvo automobile, the Volvo ÖV 4, left the factory on 14 April, 1927 which became the official date for the founding of Volvo.

Volvo Group's history

The Volvo Group has its origin in 1927 when the first Volvo car rolled off the production line at the factory in Göteborg.^[2] Only 297 cars were built that year.^[3] The first truck, the Series 1, debuted in January 1928. In 1930, Volvo sold 639 cars,^[4] and the export of trucks to Europe started soon after; the cars did not become well-known outside Sweden until after World War Two.^[5]

Marine engines have been part of the Group almost as long as trucks. Pentaverken, founded in 1907, was acquired in 1935. As early as 1929, however, the U-21 outboard engine was introduced. Manufacturing continued until 1962.

The first bus, aptly-named B1, was launched in 1934, and aircraft engines were added to the growing range of products at the beginning of the 1940s.

On January 28th, 1998 Volvo Group sold its business area Volvo Car Corporation to Ford Motor Company for US$6.45 billion. The focus of Volvo Group is now largely set on commercial vehicles. The Group’s position in the area of commercial vehicles was further consolidated with the acquisition of Renault Trucks and Mack Trucks in 2001, and thus the roots branched off to both France and the US. The last ten years the company has undergone rapid growth in the service area with, for example, financial solutions supporting the sales of the manufacturing business units.

The Volvo trademark

Volvo Trademark

The Volvo trademark, which has been built up over decades, enjoys a solid position worldwide. It is associated with the Group’s core values – quality, safety and environmental care. The Volvo trademark is now jointly owned (50/50) by Volvo Group and Volvo Car Corporation. In order to manage the Volvo trademark, the Volvo Trademark Holding AB was established.

The main activity of trademark holding is to own, maintain, protect and preserve the Volvo trademarks.

Sponsorship

Markus Brier, winner of the 2007 Volvo China Open

One of the main promotional activities for the trademark is the sailing race Volvo Ocean Race, formerly known as the Whitbread Around the World Race. There is also a Volvo Baltic Race and Volvo Pacific Race, and Volvo likes to encourage its affluent image by sponsoring golf tournaments all over the world including major championship events called the Volvo Masters and Volvo China Open.

Volvo sponsored the Volvo Ocean Race, the world's leading round-the-world yacht race for the first time in 2001 - 2002. The next edition will take place as of 2008. Volvo has also had a long-standing commitment to the ISAF and is involved in the Volvo/ISAF World Youth Sailing Championships since 1997.

Volvo companies

Companies in the Volvo Group are:

Business units

The group companies are supported by a number of business units:

Alternative propulsion

Volvo ReCharge plug-in hybrid concept car, with 60 miles of all-electric range (AER), has been unveiled officially at the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show^[6]

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ Volvo 80 years
3. ^ Georgano, G. N. Cars: Early and Vintage, 1886-1930. (London: Grange-Universal, 1985)
4. ^ Georgano.
5. ^ Georgano.
6. ^ [2] , [3]

External links

Volvo — Official website
Lehman Volvo -Dealership

• • [ e] OMX Stockholm 30 companies of Sweden
ABB Alfa Laval Assa Abloy AstraZeneca Atlas Copco Autoliv Boliden Electrolux Eniro Ericsson Hennes & Mauritz Investor AB Nokia Nordea Sandvik SCA Scania SEB Securitas Skanska SKF SSAB Svenska Handelsbanken Swedbank Swedish Match Tele2 TeliaSonera Volvo Vostok Gas

Volvo Personvagnar / Volvo Car Corporation

Subsidiary of Ford Motor Company
Founded 1927 by SKF

Headquarters Gothenburg, Sweden

Key people Fredrik Arp, MD (CEO of Volvo Cars Corp.
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A public company usually refers to a company that is permitted to offer its securities (stock, bonds, etc.) for sale to the general public, typically through a stock exchange.
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1890s 1900s 1910s - 1920s - 1930s 1940s 1950s
1923 1924 1925 - 1926 - 1927 1928 1929

Year 1926 (MCMXXVI
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Gothenburg
Göteborg

Coat of arms
Nickname: "Lilla London" (Little London) and "Sveriges framsida" (The front side of Sweden)

Coordinates:
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Motto
(Royal) "För Sverige - I tiden" ¹
"For Sweden – With the Times" ²
Anthem
Du gamla, Du fria
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For the tennis player, see Leif Johansson (tennis player).

Leif Johansson (born March 1, 1951) is the President of AB Volvo and CEO of The Volvo Group (since 1997). He sold Volvo Cars to Ford. He is an alumnus of Chalmers University of Technology.
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Chief Executive Officer (CEO), or chief executive, is the highest-ranking corporate officer, administrator, corporate administrator, executive, or executive officer, in charge of total management of a corporation, company, organization or agency.
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Industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent, industrious"), is the segment of economy concerned with production of goods. Industry began in its present form during the 1800s, aided by technological advances, and it has continued to develop to this day.
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A commercial vehicle is a type of vehicle that is used for carrying goods or passengers.

Examples of commercial vehicle include:

Trucks
Vans
Coaches
Buses
Taxicabs