Volvo. Safety comes first
Volvo Personvagnar AB is a Swedish company producing Volvo cars, commonly called Volvo Car Corporation or simply Volvo Cars. Its cars are considered one of the world’s safest. Volvo made safety a key focus of its business! For most of the passive safety equipment in the automotive world, including ABS introduced in 1984, drivers should thank Volvo. It is difficult to imagine a modern car without it. Every year, 500,000 new Volvo cars are sold nowadays. *As of 2018-2019
Once a single concern, the Volvo Group, which produces cars, trucks, buses, and engines, in 1999 sold its passenger car division, Volvo Cars, to Ford concern for $6.45B. Volvo, nonetheless, was in a good company there! Volvo was a part of Premier Automotive Group – a unit of Ford Motor, which united such prestigious European car brands as Jaguar, Daimler, Land Rover, Aston Martin, Lincoln. They even managed to significantly expand the range of cars and release a new crossover – Volvo XC60…
Ford sold Volvo Personvagnar for $1.8B, the trademark and the logo of Volvo to the Chinese company Geely Automobile Holdings Limited
But there was a global economic crisis in 2008. Volvo Cars downsized its staff dramatically, Ford was preparing for possible bankruptcy and decided to sell Volvo. It was learned through word-of-mouth that BMV AG, Volkswagen, and some investors from Russia wanted to buy Volvo Cars. But the Chinese got ahead of everyone. Again, according to rumors, Geely Group Holdings Co. initially offered $1.5B for the purchase of Volvo and much more money as an investment in Ford… 11 years later, Ford Motor sold Volvo Personvagnar for $1.8B, the trademark and the logo of Volvo to the Chinese company Geely Automobile Holdings Limited, one of the largest Chinese car companies, which is on the list of 500 largest companies in the world. Volvo Cars made the way from the favorite Swedish brand to a division of the Chinese monster, Geely.
Despite the fact that formally the Volvo is no longer Swedish, the Swedish spirit is still alive! Nowadays, both Swedish and Chinese own the Volvo brand. And the intellectual rights to the development of the Swedish company remained with Volvo!
The birth of the legend
Volvo’ (as well as volvi, volutum, volvere) is the Latin for “roll” or “spin”. And this word is inherited from the parent company - the famous Swedish engineering company SKF, the world’s largest bearing manufacturer - its subsiduary Volvo separated from it in 1926.
Once upon a time, there lived two guys in snowy Sweden. The 20th century has just begun… One of the guys, Assar Gabrielsson, had a bachelor’s degree in economics and business and he was eager to sell. The goods he wanted to sell were… Russian chicken eggs :) Maybe, if there wasn’t a revolution in 1917 in Russia, the world would see just another egg seller instead of a famous car brand. The other guy, Gustaf Larson, was an engineer, graduated from the University of Technology. They both worked for SKF: Assar was a sales representative, and Gustaf was an engineer. They both liked cars but disliked the ones sold in Sweden. These weren’t good enough for the harsh Swedish climate. And they had an idea to create a new car from scratch, not using anyone’s prototypes, investing their own money. Larson drew a sketch of the future car model himself and designed the engine. Gabrielsson visited factories one after another looking for highest-class parts. In 1926, the first Swedish car was made – it was a phaeton, created by two enthusiasts with their own hands.
They gave names to each car. The tradition to name inanimate objects existed in Scandinavian countries since the era of Vikings. True Vikings, Larson, and Gabrielsson treated it ironically, giving names to their cars. They didn’t like black much, so they were the first to make a bright red car. They named it “Larsson” after a Swedish artist who always put some accent in red. They named the greenish-blue car “Mermaid” after the national symbol of the country. And when the time for the black car has finally come, they called it “Jakob” to memorize the German theologian, philosopher, and mystic Jakob Böhme, who said that black is a color of mystery and inexplicable secret. The first Volvo Jacob was a 4-door car with leather interior and folding top, capable of speeds up to 90 km/h.
Name and logo
‘Volvo’ (as well as volvi, volutum, volvere) is the Latin for ‘roll’ or ‘spin’.
The name ‘Volvo’ was suggested by the Board of Directors of SKF, which eventually invested two car-making enthusiasts. As a result, the Volvo brand has passed through the years in an almost unchanged form. ‘Rolling, swinging, spinning!’ - or just ‘Volvo’ is both easy to remember and easy to pronounce for native speakers of every language. It is a reminder of the origin and a statement about the bright future of the new car brand.
The crossed-out Volvo grille and the logo in the form of a stylized alchemical symbol of the iron were invented by Swedish artist, sculptor, and industrial designer Helmer Masolle. The emblem emphasized the reliability and masculinity of the car, created for fearless and active people. Therefore, the symbol of iron, the male principle, and Mars, the god of war, attached to the grille with a straightforward metal line. A simple solution became the world-famous hallmark of the Volvo brand.
In 1935, Volvo became independent from SKF. In 1958, Sweden was the first to take out a patent for a 3-point safety belt! They also were first to introduce side airbags. In the 50s, Volvo was one of the first companies that worked so hard for driver’s and passengers’ safety. As a result, Volvo made safety a key focus of its business! For most of the passive safety in the automotive world, including ABS introduced in 1984, we should thank Volvo. It is hard to imagine a modern car without it.
For most of the passive safety equipment drivers should thank Volvo.
500,000 new Volvo cars are sold annually in our days. The biggest sales markets are China, Sweden, the USA, the UK, and Germany. The best-selling model is Volvo XC60. Euro NCAP - The European New Car Assessment Programme Committee in 2017 awarded Volvo XC60 as the safest big soft-roader. In 2018, Volvo XC60 won the World Car of the Year award in New York.
One of Volvo’s slogans is “But our commitment to sustainability goes beyond cars”. Life is really full of good things beyond cars. Remember this when you buy your Volvo!
