Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Volvo Car Corporation shopping experience:

1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Volvo Car Corporation offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Volvo Car Corporation at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.

2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about

3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Volvo Car Corporation? Wrong! If the Volvo Car Corporation is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.

4. Questions - Got a question about Volvo Car Corporation then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....

5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Volvo Car Corporation? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Volvo Car Corporation and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.

6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Volvo Car Corporation wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.

7. Feedback - happy with your Volvo Car Corporation then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.

8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Volvo Car Corporation site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

9. Contact - got a question about Volvo Car Corporation, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.

10. Payment - ready to pay for your Volvo Car Corporation, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.

This article is about Volvo Car Corporation; For commercial vehicles see Volvo Group. For other uses, see Volvo (disambiguation). Volvo Car Corporation is the luxury car maker using the Volvo trademark. {{Infobox_Company | company_logo = ]| company_name = Volvo Personvagnar / Volvo Car Corporation| industry = [Automotive| company_type = Subsidiary of [Ford Motor Company| foundation = by [SKF
| location = {{flagicon|Sweden--> [Gothenburg, [Sweden| products = [Luxury Cars, [Engines| company_slogan = For Life.| revenue = | key_people = Fredrik Arp, MD (CEO of Volvo Cars Corp.)
Steve Mattin (Design Director)
Ingrid Skogsmo (Safety Centre Director) | num_employees = | net_income = | operating_income = | homepage = http://www.volvocars.com/ www.volvocars.com -->Volvo Cars, or Volvo Personvagnar, is a well-known Swedish automobile maker founded in 1927 in the city of Gothenburg in Sweden.

Volvo was formed as a subsidiary company to the ball bearing maker SKF. It was not until 1935 when Volvo AB was introduced on the Swedish stock exchange that SKF sold most of the shares in the company. Volvo Cars was owned by Volvo until 1999, when it was acquired by the Ford Motor Company and placed in its Premier Automotive Group. Volvo is a premium manufacturer and produces luxury models ranging from SUVs, wagons, and sedans to compact executive sedans and coupes. With 2,500 dealerships worldwide in 100 markets; 60 percent of sales come from Europe, 30 percent from North America, and the other 10 percent is from the rest of the world.

Volvo cars have a reputation for comfort, solidity, safety and longevity. Older models were often compared to tractors, partially because Volvo AB was and still is a manufacturer of heavy equipment, earlier Bolinder-Munktell, now Volvo Construction Equipment. Considered by some to be slow and heavy, Kraniel Konsument: Konsumenttest Hult Healey they earned the distinction "brick"Unleashing the Muscle Car Inside the Trusty Volvo, NY Times (March 3, 2005) as term of endearment for the classic, block-shaped Volvo. With the more powerful turbo charged variants known as "turbobricks". More recent models have moved away from the boxy styles favored in the 1970s and 1980s and built a reputation for sporting performance. But not before the phenomenal success of factory supported Volvo 200 series turbos winning both the 1985 European Touring Car Championship & 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC). Volvo 240 Turbo Group 'A' racing information, Anthony Hyde Most recently a Volvo 850 wagon won top honors at the 1995 British Touring Car Championship season.

Historically brand loyalty is significantly higher among Volvo owners versus other automobile manufacturers. Owners are often proud of achieving prodigious mileages UK High Mileage register Volvo Club UK with one well documented 1965 Volvo P1800S having been driven over 2.6 million miles. 2 million mile 1800s Palo Alto Daily News (August, 26 2007) According to some figures the average age of a Volvo being discarded is second only to Mercedes at 19.8 years. SSB Age at scrapping figures Reliability is considered better thanaverage Reliability index and in the USA Volvo dealers are listed by Forbes as one of the best among all car makers (9th)http://www.forbesautos.com/slideshows/advice/toptens/2007/dealership_experience/best-dealers-all.htmland luxury car makers (6th).http://www.forbesautos.com/advice/toptens/best-luxury-dealers-2007.html

History Volvo company came about in Gothenburg, Sweden in the year 1927. The company was founded by SKF as a subsidiary company 100% owned by SKF. Assar Gabrielsson was appointed the managing director and Gustav Larson as the technical manager.

"Cars are driven by people. Therefore the guiding principle behind everything at Volvo is it must remain safe", Assar Gabrielsson and Gustav Larson 1927.

Despite this, Volvo's originally had a reputation for high death rates in the event of an accident. This led to a drastic overhaul of Volvo's safety approaches and an aggressive marketing campaign to brand the cars as 'the safest on the road'. This perception branding has been so successful that "safety" is now the first word most associate with Volvo.

The trademark Volvo was first registered by SKF the 11th May 1915 with the intention to use it for a special series of ball bearing for the American market, but it was never used for this purpose. SKF trademark as it looks today was used instead for all the SKF-products. Some pre-series of Volvo-bearings stamped with the brand name 'Volvo' were manufactured but was never released to the market and it was not until 1927 that the trademark was used again, now as a trademark and company name for an automobile. Volvo - derived from the Latin for "I roll," was thought to be a good trademark for a ball bearing as well as for an automobile.

The first Volvo car left the assembly line April 14, 1927 was called Volvo ÖV 4. After this the young company produced closed top and cabriolet vehicles, which were designed to hold strong in the Swedish climate and terrain. The Volvo symbol is an ancient chemistry sign for iron. The iron sign is used to symbolize the strength of iron used in the car as Sweden is known for its quality iron. The diagonal line (a strip of metal) across the grille came about to hold the actual symbol, a circle with an arrow, in front of the cooler. In the registration application for Volvo logotype in 1927, they simple made a copy of the entire cooler for ÖV4, viewed from the front.

In 1964 Volvo opened its Torslanda plant in Sweden, which currently is the one of its largest production sites (chiefly large cars and SUV). Then in 1965 the Ghent, Belgium plant was opened, which is the company's second largest production site (chiefly small cars). Finally in 1989 the Uddevalla plant in Sweden was opened, which is now jointly operated by Volvo Car Corporation and Pininfarina of Italy.

estate

Safety Volvo cars have always evoked a reputation for car safety. In 1944, laminated glass was introduced in the Volvo PV model. In 1958, Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin invented and patented the modern Seat belt, which became standard on all Volvo cars in 1959http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/safety/articles/43023/article.html.

Volvo was the first company to produce cars with padded dashboards starting in late 1956 with their Volvo Amazon. Additionally, Volvo developed the first rear-facing child seat in the late 1960s and introduced its own booster seat in 1978. In the mid-eighties, Volvo introduced the first central high-mounted stoplight (a brake light not shared with the rear tail lights), which became federally mandated in the United States in the 1986 model year. Seat belt and child seat innovation continued as shown in the 1991 Volvo 960. The 960 introduced the first three-point seat belt for the middle of the rear seat and a child safety cushion integrated in the middle armrest. Also in 1991 came the introduction of the Side Impact Protection System (SIPS) on the Volvo 940/Volvo 960 and Volvo 850 models, which channeled the force of a side impact away from the doors and into the safety cage. In 1998, Volvo introduced its Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS), a safety device to prevent injury of front seat users during collisions. In 2004, Volvo introduced the BLIS system, which detects vehicles entering the Volvo's blind spot with a side view mirror mounted sensor and alerts the driver with a light. That year also saw Volvos sold in all markets equipped with side-marker lights and daytime-running lights (the latter having already been available in many markets for some time). Much of Volvo's safety technology now also goes into other Ford vehicles. In 2005 Volvo presented the second generation of Volvo C70, it comes with extra stiff door-mounted inflatable side curtains (the first of its kind in a convertible). In 2006 Volvo's Personal Car Communicator (PCC) remote control has been launched as an optional feature with the all new Volvo S80. This feature is fairly new to the automotive industry. Before a driver gets to their car, they are able to review the security level and know whether they have set the alarm and if the car is locked. Additionally, there is a heartbeat sensor that warns if someone is hiding inside the car. The heartbeat sensor is rumored to also work with the SOS feature of Volvo's new telematics system. The all new Volvo S80 is also the first Volvo model to feature Adaptive cruise control (ACC) with Collision Warning and Brake Support (Collision Warning Brake Support).

By the mid-1990s there was little to distinguish Volvo from some other manufacturers (notably Renault) on safety when put through standardized tests such as EuroNCAP. The Volvo 745 had some severe problems with the C-pillar that could break in collisions even at relatively low speeds. The design was strengthened and the 740 was renamed as the Volvo 940 Vanagon / Volvo crash test. Also, the production of Volvo P1800 had to be stopped because it did not fulfill US safety standards.

A US study showed that Volvo's safety have been slipping according to Russ Rader, a spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. IIHS Crash Test Results KSBI-TV: Top 10 Safest Cars Aftonbladet: Säkra Saab kör om Volvo i krocktest Aftonbladet: Här hänger inte Volvo med längre

In 2007, Finland’s Safety Technology Authority (TUKES) concluded that the structure of Volvo 440 and 460 automobiles manufactured between 1993 and 1995 had caused several cases of flare-ups during refueling.

Dan Johnston, a Volvo spokesman, denied that the company's vehicles are any less safe than the Institute's top-rated vehicles, adding that

Since 2004 all Volvo models except for the Volvo C70 and C30 are available with an all wheel drive system developed by Haldex of Sweden.

Even in recent years Volvo Cars have still managed to maintain their high class safety ratings as seen in test results from the IIHS. The Volvo XC90, S80,S40, and C70 all score top scores in these rated crash tests.

Even although Volvo Car Corp is owned by the Ford Motor Company, the safety systems of Volvo are still made standard on all of their vehicles. Volvo has patented all of their safety innovations that would include SIPS, WHIPS, ROPS, DSTC, IC, and body structures to name a few. Some of these systems have shown up in other Ford vehicles in related forms to that of Volvo systems only because Volvo has licenced the FOMOCO and other PAG members to utilize these features.

Safety milestones

Ford Motor Company - Featured Story: Volvo Celebrates 80 Years of Safety

Acquisitions In the early 1970s, Volvo acquired the passenger car division of the Dutch company DAF Trucks, and marketed their small cars as Volvos before releasing the Dutch-built Volvo 300 series, which went on to be one of the biggest-selling cars in the United Kingdom market in the 1980s

Volvo Group, as one of the largest manufacturers of commercial vehicles 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 prestige mid-size 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 the acquisition was completed at a price of $6.45 billion United States dollar.

As a result of the divestiture, the Volvo trademark is now utilized by two separate companies:

Volvo Car Corporation is a part of the FoMoCo PAG along side Jaguar and Land Rover of Britain. Since its acquisition into the PAG the company has grown in its range of vehicle and year by year is increasingly becoming a larger competitor in the luxury segment. Volvo has not reached the heights of world luxury leaders Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar Cars or even the sporty/luxury manufacturers BMW and Audi. Volvo competes more evenly with Acura, Cadillac, Lincoln (automobile) and Saab.

In mid 2007 a rumour started that BMW had plans to acquire Volvo Cars from Ford. Insiders from the three companies have confirmed that BMW has requested an official financial inspection of Volvo and that informal talks between Ford and BMW had begun for a possible buyout. Ford is selling the PAG automotive marques for financial reasons, the same reason given for the disposal of Aston Martin.

On June 11, 2007, even after denying the claim of a buy out with BMW, the Ford Motor Company announced publicly that all of its PAG members were for sale. Earlier in 2007 Ford had stated that none of its PAG members were safe from a potential divestment. The entire PAG brand is expected to be divested in order to finance the remaining Ford brands which would include Ford, Mercury (automobile), and Lincoln. Ford publicly announced the Jaguar Cars, Land Rover, and Volvo Cars brands were all up for sales at this point. Soon after on August 2007, Ford CEO Alan Mulally stated that Ford does ot need a global luxury brand in the form of the PAG of Europe, excluding Lincoln of America all of the the luxury brands must go from Jaguar of England to Volvo of Sweden.

The rumours surrounding the possible sale of Volvo Car Corp to BMW once again surfaced in early July 2007. Sources from within the Volvo financial arm in Gothenburg have stated that the German brand had informal extensive talks with Volvo executives about a real selling price of the company.

A more recent rumour was started in mid June in Sweden that the Volvo car corporation is to be bought from the Ford PAG with the help of AB Volvo. This was later confirmed to be untrue, as AB Volvo is not looking into the automotive industry at this point in time as stated by AB Volvo CEO in Sweden. AB Volvo has confirmed that they are very much so concerned to see and too know what will happen to Volvo Cars, as they share the seem heritage, beliefs, and nameplate.

On July 3, 2007 a confirmed suitor for Volvo Cars has stepped forward as a potential buyer to the rights to use the Volvo Cars name in vehicle manufacture. A wealthy Swedish family that owns Investor AB, a public investment firm of Sweden, with a 11% share interest of Scania is now entering the ring as a potential Volvo owner. This takeover is seen by many of the automotive analysts to be the most practical at this point in time. Previous takeover enquiries from Renault and BMW are seen to be impractical because Volvo has become so integrated with Ford and much would be lost by Ford and the new owners in the sales of the Swedish auto company. This Swedish family ownership would allow Volvo to be Swedish again and the platforms could still be shared with Ford. Ford will get much needed revenue that Jaguar and Land Rover alone cannot generate in a sale, and the Volvo Cars work force would prefer Swedish ownership.

According to the UK Autocar magazine, a Ford spokesman said Volvo is not ready for sale yet and is still under observation. But early August of 2007 revealed another turn in the Ford PAG sale saga. Ford announced that Volvo is to be sold before the end of 2007. The most likely new owners of Volvo will be the Wallenberg Family that owns Investor AB of Sweden, or BMW of Germany.

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 Showhttp://media.ford.com/newsroom/feature_display.cfm?release=25980 , http://jalopnik.com/cars/frankfurt-auto-show/volvo-recharge-plug+in-hybrid-concept-car-296913.php

Sponsorship

Volvo entered the European Touring Car Championship with the Volvo 240 in the mid-80s. The cars also entered the Guia Race, part of the Macau Grand Prix in 1985, 1986 and 1987, winning in both 1985 and 1986.

Volvo also entered the British Touring Car Championship in the 90s with Tom Walkinshaw Racing. This partnership was responsible for the controversial 850 Estate racing car, which was only rendered uncompetitive when the FIA allowed the use of aerodynamic aids in 1995. TWR then built and ran the works 850 Saloon, six wins in 1995 and five wins in 1996, and S40, one wins in 1997 in the BTCC. In 1998, TWR Volvo won the British Touring Car Championship with Rickard Rydell driving the S40R.

The Volvo trademark is now jointly owned (50/50) by Volvo Group and Volvo Car Corporation. One of the main promotional activities for the brand 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.

Car models

Early years

Three-numbered Volvos Starting with the 140 series in 1968, Volvo used a three number system for their cars. The first number was the series, the second number the number of cylinders and the third number the number of doors; so a 164 was a 1-series with a 6-cylinder engine and 4 doors. However there were exceptions to this rule—the 780 for example, came with turbocharged I4 and naturally-aspirated V6 petrol engines and I6 diesel engines, but never an eight cylinder as the 8 would suggest. Similarly, the 760 often was equipped with a turbocharged I4 engine and the Volvo 360 only had four cylinders. Some 240GLT had a V6 engine. The company dropped the meaning of the final digit for later cars like the 740, but the digit continued to identify cars underhood on the identification plate. Volvo VIN Numbers had always been give YV1 symbolizing Sweden, Volvo, and Volvo Car Corp

Models with current denomination Today, the company uses a system of letters denoting body style followed by the series number. S stands for sedan or sedan, C stands for coupé or convertible and V stands for versatile or station wagon. XC stands for cross country originally added to a more rugged V70 model as the V70XC and indicates all wheel drive paired with a raised suspension to give it a mock SUV look. Volvo would later change the name to the XC70 in keeping with its car naming consistent with the XC90. So a V50 is an estate ("V") that is smaller than the V70.

Originally, Volvo was planning a different naming scheme. S and C were to be the same, but "F", standing for flexibility, was to be used on station wagons. When Volvo introduced the first generation S40 and V40 at Frankfurt in 1994, they were announced as the S4 and F4. However, Audi complained that it had inherent rights to the S4 name, since it names its sporty vehicles "S", and the yet-introduced sport version of the Audi A4 would have the S4 name. Volvo agreed to add a second digit, so the vehicles became the S40 and F40. However, that led to a complaint from Ferrari, who used the F40 name on their legendary sports car. This led to Volvo switching the "F" to "V", for versatile.



Concept cars

Production locations

Assembly locations around the world:

Volvo Cars have previously had production facilities on these locations:

Engine types Volvo is one of few automobile manufacturers that use in line or straight engines in their production vehicles. Volvo is also very famous for the application of the in line 5 cylinder engine to its vehicle line up since its introduction in 1993 in the Volvo 850.

Transmissions Volvo transmissions in the past were made by the ZF Friedrichshafen company, but now the transmissions are co-developed with Aisin of Japan. Volvo also uses the exclusive name of their manual/ automatic transmission called Geartronic.

Sales Volvo Cars sales during 2005 (2004).

Source: Dagens Nyheter

By market 1. United States 123575 (139155)
2. Sweden 52696 (51464)
3. United Kingdom 38307 (40159)
4. Germany 35035 (38085)
5. Italy 20533 (19390)
6. Netherlands 18879 (19225)
7. Spain 18335 (15925)
8. Japan 13427 (13919)
9. Belgium 12638 (12929)
10. Canada 11651 (11651)


All markets: 443947 (456224)

By model 1. Volvo XC90 85994
2. Volvo V50 83202
3. Volvo S40 75136
4. Volvo V70 70156*
5. Volvo S60 62528




Trivia Ingvar Kamprad drives a 1993 Volvo 240 GLhttp://www.forbesautos.com/advice/toptens/billionaire/05-ingvar_kamprad.html and Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud drives a Volvo XC90.http://www.forbesautos.com/advice/toptens/billionaire/04-prince_alwaleed.html

See also

References

External links

Gallery Image:Volvo PV4 Sedan 1927 2.jpg|Volvo PV4 4-Door Sedan 1927Image:Volvo PV4 Special Sedan 1928.jpg|Volvo PV4 Special 4-Door Sedan 1928Image:Volvo PV651 Sedan 1929.jpg|Volvo PV651 4-Door Sedan 1929Image:Volvo PV654 Sedan 1933 2.jpg|Volvo PV654 4-Door Sedan 1933Image:Volvo PV654 Sedan 1933 3.jpg|Volvo PV654 4-Door Sedan 1933Image:Volvo PV654 Sedan 1933.jpg|Volvo PV654 4-Door Sedan 1933Image:Volvo PV655 Ambulance 1934.jpg|Volvo PV655 Ambulance 1934Image:Volvo PV659 Sedan 1935.jpg|Volvo PV659 4-Door Sedan 1935Image:Volvo TR 704 Sedan 1937.jpg|Volvo TR704 4-Door Sedan 1937Image:Volvo PV Sedan.jpg|Volvo PV5X 4-Door SedanImage:Volvo PV53 Sedan 1939.jpg|Volvo PV53 4-Door Sedan 1939Image:Volvo PV56 Sedan 1939 2.jpg|Volvo PV56 4-Door Sedan 1939Image:Volvo PV56 Sedan 1939 3.jpg|Volvo PV56 4-Door Sedan 1939Image:Volvo PV56 Sedan 1939 4.jpg|Volvo PV56 4-Door Sedan 1939Image:Volvo PV56 Sedan 1939.jpg|Volvo PV56 4-Door Sedan 1939Image:Volvo PV54 Pickup 1939.jpg|Volvo PV54 Pickup 1939Image:Volvo PV57 Pickup 1939.jpg|Volvo PV57 Pickup 1939Image:Volvo PV60 Sedan 1946 2.jpg|Volvo PV60 4-Door Sedan 1946Image:Volvo PV60 Sedan 1946.jpg|Volvo PV60 4-Door Sedan Taxi 1946

This article is about Volvo Car Corporation; For commercial vehicles see Volvo Group. For other uses, see Volvo (disambiguation). Volvo Car Corporation is the luxury car maker using the Volvo trademark. {{Infobox_Company | company_logo = ]| company_name = Volvo Personvagnar / Volvo Car Corporation| industry = [Automotive| company_type = Subsidiary of [Ford Motor Company| foundation = by [SKF
| location = {{flagicon|Sweden--> [Gothenburg, [Sweden| products = [Luxury Cars, [Engines| company_slogan = For Life.| revenue = | key_people = Fredrik Arp, MD (CEO of Volvo Cars Corp.)
Steve Mattin (Design Director)
Ingrid Skogsmo (Safety Centre Director) | num_employees = | net_income = | operating_income = | homepage = http://www.volvocars.com/ www.volvocars.com -->Volvo Cars, or Volvo Personvagnar, is a well-known Swedish automobile maker founded in 1927 in the city of Gothenburg in Sweden.

Volvo was formed as a subsidiary company to the ball bearing maker SKF. It was not until 1935 when Volvo AB was introduced on the Swedish stock exchange that SKF sold most of the shares in the company. Volvo Cars was owned by Volvo until 1999, when it was acquired by the Ford Motor Company and placed in its Premier Automotive Group. Volvo is a premium manufacturer and produces luxury models ranging from SUVs, wagons, and sedans to compact executive sedans and coupes. With 2,500 dealerships worldwide in 100 markets; 60 percent of sales come from Europe, 30 percent from North America, and the other 10 percent is from the rest of the world.

Volvo cars have a reputation for comfort, solidity, safety and longevity. Older models were often compared to tractors, partially because Volvo AB was and still is a manufacturer of heavy equipment, earlier Bolinder-Munktell, now Volvo Construction Equipment. Considered by some to be slow and heavy, Kraniel Konsument: Konsumenttest Hult Healey they earned the distinction "brick"Unleashing the Muscle Car Inside the Trusty Volvo, NY Times (March 3, 2005) as term of endearment for the classic, block-shaped Volvo. With the more powerful turbo charged variants known as "turbobricks". More recent models have moved away from the boxy styles favored in the 1970s and 1980s and built a reputation for sporting performance. But not before the phenomenal success of factory supported Volvo 200 series turbos winning both the 1985 European Touring Car Championship & 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC). Volvo 240 Turbo Group 'A' racing information, Anthony Hyde Most recently a Volvo 850 wagon won top honors at the 1995 British Touring Car Championship season.

Historically brand loyalty is significantly higher among Volvo owners versus other automobile manufacturers. Owners are often proud of achieving prodigious mileages UK High Mileage register Volvo Club UK with one well documented 1965 Volvo P1800S having been driven over 2.6 million miles. 2 million mile 1800s Palo Alto Daily News (August, 26 2007) According to some figures the average age of a Volvo being discarded is second only to Mercedes at 19.8 years. SSB Age at scrapping figures Reliability is considered better thanaverage Reliability index and in the USA Volvo dealers are listed by Forbes as one of the best among all car makers (9th)http://www.forbesautos.com/slideshows/advice/toptens/2007/dealership_experience/best-dealers-all.htmland luxury car makers (6th).http://www.forbesautos.com/advice/toptens/best-luxury-dealers-2007.html

History Volvo company came about in Gothenburg, Sweden in the year 1927. The company was founded by SKF as a subsidiary company 100% owned by SKF. Assar Gabrielsson was appointed the managing director and Gustav Larson as the technical manager.

"Cars are driven by people. Therefore the guiding principle behind everything at Volvo is it must remain safe", Assar Gabrielsson and Gustav Larson 1927.

Despite this, Volvo's originally had a reputation for high death rates in the event of an accident. This led to a drastic overhaul of Volvo's safety approaches and an aggressive marketing campaign to brand the cars as 'the safest on the road'. This perception branding has been so successful that "safety" is now the first word most associate with Volvo.

The trademark Volvo was first registered by SKF the 11th May 1915 with the intention to use it for a special series of ball bearing for the American market, but it was never used for this purpose. SKF trademark as it looks today was used instead for all the SKF-products. Some pre-series of Volvo-bearings stamped with the brand name 'Volvo' were manufactured but was never released to the market and it was not until 1927 that the trademark was used again, now as a trademark and company name for an automobile. Volvo - derived from the Latin for "I roll," was thought to be a good trademark for a ball bearing as well as for an automobile.

The first Volvo car left the assembly line April 14, 1927 was called Volvo ÖV 4. After this the young company produced closed top and cabriolet vehicles, which were designed to hold strong in the Swedish climate and terrain. The Volvo symbol is an ancient chemistry sign for iron. The iron sign is used to symbolize the strength of iron used in the car as Sweden is known for its quality iron. The diagonal line (a strip of metal) across the grille came about to hold the actual symbol, a circle with an arrow, in front of the cooler. In the registration application for Volvo logotype in 1927, they simple made a copy of the entire cooler for ÖV4, viewed from the front.

In 1964 Volvo opened its Torslanda plant in Sweden, which currently is the one of its largest production sites (chiefly large cars and SUV). Then in 1965 the Ghent, Belgium plant was opened, which is the company's second largest production site (chiefly small cars). Finally in 1989 the Uddevalla plant in Sweden was opened, which is now jointly operated by Volvo Car Corporation and Pininfarina of Italy.

estate

Safety Volvo cars have always evoked a reputation for car safety. In 1944, laminated glass was introduced in the Volvo PV model. In 1958, Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin invented and patented the modern Seat belt, which became standard on all Volvo cars in 1959http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/safety/articles/43023/article.html.

Volvo was the first company to produce cars with padded dashboards starting in late 1956 with their Volvo Amazon. Additionally, Volvo developed the first rear-facing child seat in the late 1960s and introduced its own booster seat in 1978. In the mid-eighties, Volvo introduced the first central high-mounted stoplight (a brake light not shared with the rear tail lights), which became federally mandated in the United States in the 1986 model year. Seat belt and child seat innovation continued as shown in the 1991 Volvo 960. The 960 introduced the first three-point seat belt for the middle of the rear seat and a child safety cushion integrated in the middle armrest. Also in 1991 came the introduction of the Side Impact Protection System (SIPS) on the Volvo 940/Volvo 960 and Volvo 850 models, which channeled the force of a side impact away from the doors and into the safety cage. In 1998, Volvo introduced its Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS), a safety device to prevent injury of front seat users during collisions. In 2004, Volvo introduced the BLIS system, which detects vehicles entering the Volvo's blind spot with a side view mirror mounted sensor and alerts the driver with a light. That year also saw Volvos sold in all markets equipped with side-marker lights and daytime-running lights (the latter having already been available in many markets for some time). Much of Volvo's safety technology now also goes into other Ford vehicles. In 2005 Volvo presented the second generation of Volvo C70, it comes with extra stiff door-mounted inflatable side curtains (the first of its kind in a convertible). In 2006 Volvo's Personal Car Communicator (PCC) remote control has been launched as an optional feature with the all new Volvo S80. This feature is fairly new to the automotive industry. Before a driver gets to their car, they are able to review the security level and know whether they have set the alarm and if the car is locked. Additionally, there is a heartbeat sensor that warns if someone is hiding inside the car. The heartbeat sensor is rumored to also work with the SOS feature of Volvo's new telematics system. The all new Volvo S80 is also the first Volvo model to feature Adaptive cruise control (ACC) with Collision Warning and Brake Support (Collision Warning Brake Support).

By the mid-1990s there was little to distinguish Volvo from some other manufacturers (notably Renault) on safety when put through standardized tests such as EuroNCAP. The Volvo 745 had some severe problems with the C-pillar that could break in collisions even at relatively low speeds. The design was strengthened and the 740 was renamed as the Volvo 940 Vanagon / Volvo crash test. Also, the production of Volvo P1800 had to be stopped because it did not fulfill US safety standards.

A US study showed that Volvo's safety have been slipping according to Russ Rader, a spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. IIHS Crash Test Results KSBI-TV: Top 10 Safest Cars Aftonbladet: Säkra Saab kör om Volvo i krocktest Aftonbladet: Här hänger inte Volvo med längre

In 2007, Finland’s Safety Technology Authority (TUKES) concluded that the structure of Volvo 440 and 460 automobiles manufactured between 1993 and 1995 had caused several cases of flare-ups during refueling.

Dan Johnston, a Volvo spokesman, denied that the company's vehicles are any less safe than the Institute's top-rated vehicles, adding that

Since 2004 all Volvo models except for the Volvo C70 and C30 are available with an all wheel drive system developed by Haldex of Sweden.

Even in recent years Volvo Cars have still managed to maintain their high class safety ratings as seen in test results from the IIHS. The Volvo XC90, S80,S40, and C70 all score top scores in these rated crash tests.

Even although Volvo Car Corp is owned by the Ford Motor Company, the safety systems of Volvo are still made standard on all of their vehicles. Volvo has patented all of their safety innovations that would include SIPS, WHIPS, ROPS, DSTC, IC, and body structures to name a few. Some of these systems have shown up in other Ford vehicles in related forms to that of Volvo systems only because Volvo has licenced the FOMOCO and other PAG members to utilize these features.

Safety milestones

Ford Motor Company - Featured Story: Volvo Celebrates 80 Years of Safety

Acquisitions In the early 1970s, Volvo acquired the passenger car division of the Dutch company DAF Trucks, and marketed their small cars as Volvos before releasing the Dutch-built Volvo 300 series, which went on to be one of the biggest-selling cars in the United Kingdom market in the 1980s

Volvo Group, as one of the largest manufacturers of commercial vehicles 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 prestige mid-size 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 the acquisition was completed at a price of $6.45 billion United States dollar.

As a result of the divestiture, the Volvo trademark is now utilized by two separate companies:

Volvo Car Corporation is a part of the FoMoCo PAG along side Jaguar and Land Rover of Britain. Since its acquisition into the PAG the company has grown in its range of vehicle and year by year is increasingly becoming a larger competitor in the luxury segment. Volvo has not reached the heights of world luxury leaders Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar Cars or even the sporty/luxury manufacturers BMW and Audi. Volvo competes more evenly with Acura, Cadillac, Lincoln (automobile) and Saab.

In mid 2007 a rumour started that BMW had plans to acquire Volvo Cars from Ford. Insiders from the three companies have confirmed that BMW has requested an official financial inspection of Volvo and that informal talks between Ford and BMW had begun for a possible buyout. Ford is selling the PAG automotive marques for financial reasons, the same reason given for the disposal of Aston Martin.

On June 11, 2007, even after denying the claim of a buy out with BMW, the Ford Motor Company announced publicly that all of its PAG members were for sale. Earlier in 2007 Ford had stated that none of its PAG members were safe from a potential divestment. The entire PAG brand is expected to be divested in order to finance the remaining Ford brands which would include Ford, Mercury (automobile), and Lincoln. Ford publicly announced the Jaguar Cars, Land Rover, and Volvo Cars brands were all up for sales at this point. Soon after on August 2007, Ford CEO Alan Mulally stated that Ford does ot need a global luxury brand in the form of the PAG of Europe, excluding Lincoln of America all of the the luxury brands must go from Jaguar of England to Volvo of Sweden.

The rumours surrounding the possible sale of Volvo Car Corp to BMW once again surfaced in early July 2007. Sources from within the Volvo financial arm in Gothenburg have stated that the German brand had informal extensive talks with Volvo executives about a real selling price of the company.

A more recent rumour was started in mid June in Sweden that the Volvo car corporation is to be bought from the Ford PAG with the help of AB Volvo. This was later confirmed to be untrue, as AB Volvo is not looking into the automotive industry at this point in time as stated by AB Volvo CEO in Sweden. AB Volvo has confirmed that they are very much so concerned to see and too know what will happen to Volvo Cars, as they share the seem heritage, beliefs, and nameplate.

On July 3, 2007 a confirmed suitor for Volvo Cars has stepped forward as a potential buyer to the rights to use the Volvo Cars name in vehicle manufacture. A wealthy Swedish family that owns Investor AB, a public investment firm of Sweden, with a 11% share interest of Scania is now entering the ring as a potential Volvo owner. This takeover is seen by many of the automotive analysts to be the most practical at this point in time. Previous takeover enquiries from Renault and BMW are seen to be impractical because Volvo has become so integrated with Ford and much would be lost by Ford and the new owners in the sales of the Swedish auto company. This Swedish family ownership would allow Volvo to be Swedish again and the platforms could still be shared with Ford. Ford will get much needed revenue that Jaguar and Land Rover alone cannot generate in a sale, and the Volvo Cars work force would prefer Swedish ownership.

According to the UK Autocar magazine, a Ford spokesman said Volvo is not ready for sale yet and is still under observation. But early August of 2007 revealed another turn in the Ford PAG sale saga. Ford announced that Volvo is to be sold before the end of 2007. The most likely new owners of Volvo will be the Wallenberg Family that owns Investor AB of Sweden, or BMW of Germany.

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 Showhttp://media.ford.com/newsroom/feature_display.cfm?release=25980 , http://jalopnik.com/cars/frankfurt-auto-show/volvo-recharge-plug+in-hybrid-concept-car-296913.php

Sponsorship

Volvo entered the European Touring Car Championship with the Volvo 240 in the mid-80s. The cars also entered the Guia Race, part of the Macau Grand Prix in 1985, 1986 and 1987, winning in both 1985 and 1986.

Volvo also entered the British Touring Car Championship in the 90s with Tom Walkinshaw Racing. This partnership was responsible for the controversial 850 Estate racing car, which was only rendered uncompetitive when the FIA allowed the use of aerodynamic aids in 1995. TWR then built and ran the works 850 Saloon, six wins in 1995 and five wins in 1996, and S40, one wins in 1997 in the BTCC. In 1998, TWR Volvo won the British Touring Car Championship with Rickard Rydell driving the S40R.

The Volvo trademark is now jointly owned (50/50) by Volvo Group and Volvo Car Corporation. One of the main promotional activities for the brand 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.

Car models

Early years

Three-numbered Volvos Starting with the 140 series in 1968, Volvo used a three number system for their cars. The first number was the series, the second number the number of cylinders and the third number the number of doors; so a 164 was a 1-series with a 6-cylinder engine and 4 doors. However there were exceptions to this rule—the 780 for example, came with turbocharged I4 and naturally-aspirated V6 petrol engines and I6 diesel engines, but never an eight cylinder as the 8 would suggest. Similarly, the 760 often was equipped with a turbocharged I4 engine and the Volvo 360 only had four cylinders. Some 240GLT had a V6 engine. The company dropped the meaning of the final digit for later cars like the 740, but the digit continued to identify cars underhood on the identification plate. Volvo VIN Numbers had always been give YV1 symbolizing Sweden, Volvo, and Volvo Car Corp

Models with current denomination Today, the company uses a system of letters denoting body style followed by the series number. S stands for sedan or sedan, C stands for coupé or convertible and V stands for versatile or station wagon. XC stands for cross country originally added to a more rugged V70 model as the V70XC and indicates all wheel drive paired with a raised suspension to give it a mock SUV look. Volvo would later change the name to the XC70 in keeping with its car naming consistent with the XC90. So a V50 is an estate ("V") that is smaller than the V70.

Originally, Volvo was planning a different naming scheme. S and C were to be the same, but "F", standing for flexibility, was to be used on station wagons. When Volvo introduced the first generation S40 and V40 at Frankfurt in 1994, they were announced as the S4 and F4. However, Audi complained that it had inherent rights to the S4 name, since it names its sporty vehicles "S", and the yet-introduced sport version of the Audi A4 would have the S4 name. Volvo agreed to add a second digit, so the vehicles became the S40 and F40. However, that led to a complaint from Ferrari, who used the F40 name on their legendary sports car. This led to Volvo switching the "F" to "V", for versatile.



Concept cars

Production locations

Assembly locations around the world:

Volvo Cars have previously had production facilities on these locations:

Engine types Volvo is one of few automobile manufacturers that use in line or straight engines in their production vehicles. Volvo is also very famous for the application of the in line 5 cylinder engine to its vehicle line up since its introduction in 1993 in the Volvo 850.

Transmissions Volvo transmissions in the past were made by the ZF Friedrichshafen company, but now the transmissions are co-developed with Aisin of Japan. Volvo also uses the exclusive name of their manual/ automatic transmission called Geartronic.

Sales Volvo Cars sales during 2005 (2004).

Source: Dagens Nyheter

By market 1. United States 123575 (139155)
2. Sweden 52696 (51464)
3. United Kingdom 38307 (40159)
4. Germany 35035 (38085)
5. Italy 20533 (19390)
6. Netherlands 18879 (19225)
7. Spain 18335 (15925)
8. Japan 13427 (13919)
9. Belgium 12638 (12929)
10. Canada 11651 (11651)


All markets: 443947 (456224)

By model 1. Volvo XC90 85994
2. Volvo V50 83202
3. Volvo S40 75136
4. Volvo V70 70156*
5. Volvo S60 62528




Trivia Ingvar Kamprad drives a 1993 Volvo 240 GLhttp://www.forbesautos.com/advice/toptens/billionaire/05-ingvar_kamprad.html and Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud drives a Volvo XC90.http://www.forbesautos.com/advice/toptens/billionaire/04-prince_alwaleed.html

See also

References

External links

Gallery Image:Volvo PV4 Sedan 1927 2.jpg|Volvo PV4 4-Door Sedan 1927Image:Volvo PV4 Special Sedan 1928.jpg|Volvo PV4 Special 4-Door Sedan 1928Image:Volvo PV651 Sedan 1929.jpg|Volvo PV651 4-Door Sedan 1929Image:Volvo PV654 Sedan 1933 2.jpg|Volvo PV654 4-Door Sedan 1933Image:Volvo PV654 Sedan 1933 3.jpg|Volvo PV654 4-Door Sedan 1933Image:Volvo PV654 Sedan 1933.jpg|Volvo PV654 4-Door Sedan 1933Image:Volvo PV655 Ambulance 1934.jpg|Volvo PV655 Ambulance 1934Image:Volvo PV659 Sedan 1935.jpg|Volvo PV659 4-Door Sedan 1935Image:Volvo TR 704 Sedan 1937.jpg|Volvo TR704 4-Door Sedan 1937Image:Volvo PV Sedan.jpg|Volvo PV5X 4-Door SedanImage:Volvo PV53 Sedan 1939.jpg|Volvo PV53 4-Door Sedan 1939Image:Volvo PV56 Sedan 1939 2.jpg|Volvo PV56 4-Door Sedan 1939Image:Volvo PV56 Sedan 1939 3.jpg|Volvo PV56 4-Door Sedan 1939Image:Volvo PV56 Sedan 1939 4.jpg|Volvo PV56 4-Door Sedan 1939Image:Volvo PV56 Sedan 1939.jpg|Volvo PV56 4-Door Sedan 1939Image:Volvo PV54 Pickup 1939.jpg|Volvo PV54 Pickup 1939Image:Volvo PV57 Pickup 1939.jpg|Volvo PV57 Pickup 1939Image:Volvo PV60 Sedan 1946 2.jpg|Volvo PV60 4-Door Sedan 1946Image:Volvo PV60 Sedan 1946.jpg|Volvo PV60 4-Door Sedan Taxi 1946



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