Volvo

Volvo Cars is an automobile manufacturer, founded in 1927 by Swedes Assar Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larsson. Owned by the Ford Motor Corporation since 1999, Volvo’s reputation and marketing has always been based on superior vehicle safety. The first Volvo car was christened ‘Jakob’, and followed up in quick succession by a range of closed top and cabriolet vehicles built to withstand harsh Swedish conditions. After a significant dip in production during World War II, Volvo emerged strongly with the instantly successful PV444 small car in 1945. The PV444, along with the PV544 in 1958, became the first Volvos to find a place and the lucrative US market in the 1950s, and dominated Volvo production throughout the 1960s. Safety continued to be a priority, a goal which led to a number of important design innovations, including the invention of three-point safety belts in 1959 by Nils Bohlin, Volvo’s head of safety engineering. Volvo is also responsible for the introduction of brake lights, side air bags and rear- facing child seats, along with many other safety features that are standard in most vehicles today. The 1960s and 1970s saw the introduction of the 140, 240 and 340 series Volvos, each successive series promising higher levels of safety and quality. Volvo was widely praised in the 1980s for the 400 series, and in the 1990s for the Volvo 850 model, which went on to receive a range of independent awards. Volvo moved away from their distinctive square design in 1996 with the sleeker, more-rounded Volvo V70, S40 and V40. The 1996 model year releases combined Volvo’s traditional values of safety with a more sporty design, marking a shift in Volvo’s product strategy that continues to guide the brand today.