The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in
Gothenburg
Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...
. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of
trucks
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...
, buses and construction equipment, Volvo also supplies marine and industrial drive systems and financial services. In 2016, it was the world's second-largest manufacturer of heavy-duty trucks.
Automobile manufacturer
Volvo Cars
Volvo Cars ( sv, Volvo personvagnar, styled VOLVO in the company's logo) is a Swedish multinational manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Torslanda, Gothenburg. The company manufactures SUVs, station wagons, and sedans. The company's ...
, also based in Gothenburg, was part of AB Volvo until 1999, when it was sold to the
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...
. Since 2010 Volvo Cars has been owned by the automotive company
Geely Holding Group
Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd (ZGH), commonly known as Geely (吉利 "auspicious"), is a Chinese multinational automotive company headquartered in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. The company is privately held by Chinese billionaire entrepreneur ...
. Both AB Volvo and Volvo Cars share the Volvo logo and cooperate in running the
Volvo Museum
The Volvo Museum is in Gothenburg, Sweden. It covers the development of Sweden's leading vehicle manufacturer Volvo, from the first ÖV 4 to the current cars, trucks, buses and other products. The museum also has displays of Volvo Aero and Volvo ...
in Sweden.
The corporation was first listed on the
Stockholm Stock Exchange
Nasdaq Stockholm, formerly known as the Stockholm Stock Exchange ( sv, Stockholmsbörsen), is a stock exchange located in Frihamnen, Stockholm, Sweden. Founded in 1863, it has become the primary securities exchange of the Nordic countries. As o ...
in 1935, and was on the
NASDAQ
The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...
indices from 1985 to 2007.
Volvo was established in 1915 as a
subsidiary
A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...
of
SKF
AB SKF (Swedish: ''Svenska Kullagerfabriken''; 'Swedish Ball Bearing Factory') is a Swedish bearing and seal manufacturing company founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1907. The company manufactures and supplies bearings, seals, lubrication and l ...
, a ball bearing manufacturer; however both the Volvo Group and Volvo Cars regard the rollout of the company's first car series, the
Volvo ÖV 4
The Volvo ÖV 4 was the first car built by Volvo. The designation ÖV 4 stands for ''"Öppen Vagn 4 cylindrar"'' in Swedish, which means Open Carriage, 4 cylinders. The model ÖV 4 has later often been referred to as "Jakob" but that was just a na ...
, on 14 April 1927, as their beginning.
History
Early years and international expansion
![Volvo ÖV4 1927](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Volvo_%C3%96V4_1927.jpg)
The brand name ''Volvo'' was originally registered as a trademark in May 1911 with the intention to be used for a new series of SKF
ball bearings
A ball bearing is a type of rolling-element bearing that uses balls to maintain the separation between the bearing races.
The purpose of a ball bearing is to reduce rotational friction and support radial and axial loads. It achieves this ...
. It means "I roll" in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, conjugated from "volvere". The idea was short-lived, and SKF decided to simply use its initials as the trademark for all its bearing products.
In 1924,
Assar Gabrielsson
Assar Thorvald Nathanael Gabrielsson (13 August 1891 – 28 May 1962) was a Swedish industrialist and co-founder of Volvo.
Early life
Gabrielsson was born on 13 August 1891 in Korsberga, Skaraborg County, Sweden, the son of Gabriel Nathanael G ...
, an SKF sales manager, and
Gustav Larson
Erik Gustaf Larson (8 July 1887 – 4 July 1968) was a Swedish automotive engineer and the co-founder of Volvo. He held a Master of Science (M. Sc.) degree in mechanical engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.
Biography
...
, a
KTH KTH may refer to:
* Keat Hong LRT station, Singapore, LRT station abbreviation
* Kent House railway station, London, National Rail station code
* KTH Royal Institute of Technology, a university in Sweden
* KTH Krynica, a Polish ice hockey team
* Khy ...
educated engineer, decided to start construction of a Swedish car. They intended to build cars that could withstand the rigors of the country's rough roads and cold temperatures.
AB Volvo began activities on 10 August 1926. After one year of preparations involving the production of ten prototypes, the firm was ready to commence the car-manufacturing business within the SKF group. The Volvo Group itself considers it started in 1927, when the first car, a
Volvo ÖV 4
The Volvo ÖV 4 was the first car built by Volvo. The designation ÖV 4 stands for ''"Öppen Vagn 4 cylindrar"'' in Swedish, which means Open Carriage, 4 cylinders. The model ÖV 4 has later often been referred to as "Jakob" but that was just a na ...
, rolled off the production line at the factory in
Hisingen
Hisingen () is the fifth-largest island of Sweden (after Gotland, Öland, Södertörn and Orust), with an area of . It is a river island, formed by the split of the Göta Älv at Bohus, and is defined to the east and south by the main arm of tha ...
, Gothenburg. Only 280 cars were built that year.
Georgano, G. N.
George Nicolas "Nick" Georgano (29 February 1932 – 22 October 2017[Nick Georgano](_blank)
Alvis Archive Bl ...
''Cars: Early and Vintage, 1886–1930''. (London: Grange-Universal, 1985) The first truck, the "Series 1", debuted in January 1928, as an immediate success and attracted attention outside the country.
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
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.[ AB Volvo was introduced at the ]Stockholm Stock Exchange
Nasdaq Stockholm, formerly known as the Stockholm Stock Exchange ( sv, Stockholmsbörsen), is a stock exchange located in Frihamnen, Stockholm, Sweden. Founded in 1863, it has become the primary securities exchange of the Nordic countries. As o ...
in 1935 and SKF then decided to sell its shares in the company. By 1942, Volvo acquired the Swedish precision engineering company Svenska Flygmotor
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
(later renamed as Volvo Aero).
Pentaverken, which had manufactured engines for Volvo, was acquired in 1935, providing a secure supply of engines and entry into the marine engine market.
The first bus, named B1, was launched in 1934, and aircraft engines were added to the growing range of products at the beginning of the 1940s. Volvo was also responsible for producing the Stridsvagn m/42
Stridsvagn m/42 (Strv m/42) was a Swedish medium tank in service in the World War II period. Known by its manufacturer AB Landsverk as Lago II-III-IV, it fielded a 75 mm L/31 gun, the first of its size in a Swedish tank. It entered service ...
. In 1963, Volvo opened the Volvo Halifax Assembly
The Volvo Halifax Assembly Plant located in Halifax, Nova Scotia was opened on 11 June 1963 by Prince Bertil. It was the second assembly plant Volvo opened outside of Sweden and the second non-domestic auto plant in North America after Rolls-Roy ...
plant, the first assembly plant in the company's history outside of Sweden in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
In 1950, Volvo acquired the Swedish construction
Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...
and agricultural equipment
Agricultural machinery relates to the mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture. There are many types of such equipment, from hand tools and power tools to tractors and the countless kinds of farm implements that they ...
manufacturer Bolinder-Munktell
AB Bolinder-Munktell (BM) was a tractor and machines manufacturer founded in Eskilstuna, Sweden in 1932 through the merger of the mechanical companies Bolinder and Munktell.
Bolinder are also well known as manufacturers of 'Semi-Diesel' or ...
. Bolinder-Munktell was renamed as Volvo BM in 1973. In 1979, Volvo BM's agricultural equipment business was sold to Valmet
Valmet Oyj is a Finnish company and a developer and supplier of technologies, automation systems and services for the pulp (paper), pulp, paper and energy industry, energy industries.
Valmet has over 200 years of history as an industrial oper ...
. Later, through restructuring and acquisitions, the remaining construction equipment business became Volvo Construction Equipment
Volvo Construction Equipment - Volvo CE - (originally Munktells, Bolinder-Munktell, Volvo BM) is a major international company that develops, manufactures and markets equipment for construction and related industries. It is a subsidiary and busine ...
.[
In the 1970s, Volvo started to move away from car manufacturing to concentrate more on heavy commercial vehicles. The car division focused on models aimed at upper middle-class customers to improve its profitability.][
]
Partnerships and merging attempts
In 1977, Volvo tried to combine operations with rival Swedish automotive group Saab-Scania
Saab-Scania AB was a Swedish vehicle manufacturer that was formed from the 1969 merger of Saab AB and Scania-Vabis. The company was split in 1995.
History
Truck and bus manufacturer Scania AB of Södertälje merged with car and aeroplane manufa ...
, but the latter company rejected it.
Between 1978 and 1981, Volvo acquired Beijerinvest, a trading company involved in the oil, food, and finance businesses. In 1981, those sectors represented about three quarters of the company revenue, while the automotive sector amounted for most of the rest.[
In the early 1970s, French manufacturer ]Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
and Volvo started to collaborate.[ In 1978, ]Volvo Car Corporation
Volvo Cars ( sv, Volvo personvagnar, styled VOLVO in the company's logo) is a Swedish multinational manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Torslanda, Gothenburg. The company manufactures SUVs, station wagons, and sedans. The company's ...
was spun off as a separate company within the Volvo group and Renault acquired a minority stake, before selling it back in the 1980s after a restructuring.[ In the 1990s, Renault and Volvo deepened their collaboration and both companies partnered in purchasing, research and development and quality control while increasing their cross-ownership. Renault would assist Volvo with entry-level and medium segment vehicles and in return, Volvo would share technology with Renault in upper segments. In 1993, a 1994 Volvo-Renault merger deal was announced. The deal was barely accepted in France, but it was opposed in Sweden, and the Volvo shareholders and company board voted against it.] The alliance was officially dissolved in February 1994 and Volvo sold off its minority Renault stake in 1997. In the 1990s, Volvo also divested from most of its activities outside vehicles and engines.
In 1991, the Volvo Group participated in a joint venture with Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors
is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.[DAF
Daf ( fa, دف) also known as Dâyere and Riq is a Middle Eastern (mainly Iranian) frame drum musical instrument, used in popular and classical music in South and Central Asia. It is also used in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Iran, Uzbe ...](_blank)
plant in Born
Born may refer to:
* Childbirth
* Born (surname), a surname (see also for a list of people with the name)
* ''Born'' (comics), a comic book limited series
Places
* Born, Belgium, a village in the German-speaking Community of Belgium
* Born, Luxe ...
, Netherlands. The operation, branded NedCar
VDL Nedcar is an automotive manufacturing company in Born, Netherlands. Since December 2012 it has been owned by the Dutch industrial conglomerate VDL Groep. Previous owners were Mitsubishi Motors and Volvo Cars. The company had its origins in a ...
, began producing the first generation Mitsubishi Carisma
The Mitsubishi Carisma was a large family car produced for the European market by Mitsubishi Motors from 1995 to 2004.[Volvo S40/V40
The Volvo S40 is a series of compact and subcompact executive automobiles marketed and produced by the Swedish manufacturer Volvo Cars from 1995 to 2012.
The first generation (1995–2004) was introduced in 1995 with the S40 (S from saloon) ...](_blank)
in 1996.[Mitsubishi Motors Corporation Vehicle Manufacturer Strategic Insight](_blank)
, Automotive World (subscription required) During the 1990s, Volvo also partnered with the American manufacturer General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
. In 1999, the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
blocked a merger with Scania AB
Scania AB is a major Swedish manufacturer headquartered in Södertälje, focusing on commercial vehicles—specifically heavy lorries, trucks and buses. It also manufactures diesel engines for heavy vehicles as well as marine and general indus ...
.
Refocusing on heavy vehicles
In January 1999, Volvo Group sold Volvo Car Corporation to Ford Motor Company for $6.45 billion. The division was placed within Ford's Premier Automotive Group
The Premier Automotive Group (PAG) was an organizational division within the Ford Motor Company formed in 1999 to oversee the business operations of Ford's high-end automotive marques. The PAG was gradually dismantled from 2006 to 2011 with th ...
alongside Jaguar
The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...
, Land Rover
Land Rover is a British brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR currently builds Land Rovers ...
and Aston Martin
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated with ...
. Volvo engineering resources and components would be used in various Ford, Land Rover and Aston Martin products, with the second generation Land Rover Freelander
The Land Rover Freelander is a compact luxury crossover SUV that was manufactured and marketed by Land Rover from 1997 to 2015. The second generation was sold from 2007 to 2015 in North America and the Middle East as the LR2 and in Europe as the ...
designed on the same platform as the second generation Volvo S80. The Volvo T5 petrol engine was used in the Ford Focus
The Ford Focus is a compact car (C-segment in Europe) manufactured by Ford Motor Company since 1998. It was created under Alexander Trotman's Ford 2000 plan, which aimed to globalize model development and sell one compact vehicle worldwide. The ...
ST and RS performance models, and Volvo's satellite navigation system was used on certain Aston Martin Vanquish, DB9 and V8 Vantage models. In November 1999, Volvo Group purchased a 5% stake in Mitsubishi Motors, as part of a partnership deal for the truck and bus business. In 2001, after DaimlerChrysler
The Mercedes-Benz Group AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufacture ...
bought a large Mitsubishi Motors stake, Volvo sold its shares to the former.
Renault Véhicules Industriels
Renault Trucks is a French commercial truck manufacturer with corporate headquarters at Saint-Priest near Lyon. Originally part of Renault, it has been a subsidiary of the Volvo Group since 2001.
From its beginnings in 1978 to 2002, the comp ...
(which included Mack Trucks
Mack Trucks, Inc., is an American truck manufacturing company and a former manufacturer of buses and trolley buses. Founded in 1900 as the Mack Brothers Company, it manufactured its first truck in 1905 and adopted its present name in 1922. Mack ...
, but not Renault's stake in Irisbus
IVECO Bus (formerly Irisbus) is a bus manufacturer with headquarters in Turin. IVECO Bus is now only a brand division of IVECO which is a company incorporated under Dutch law and listed on Borsa Italiana.
History IVECO (1975 - 1999)
In 1975 ...
) was sold to Volvo during January 2001, and Volvo renamed it Renault Trucks in 2002. Renault became AB Volvo's biggest shareholder with a 19.9% stake (in shares and voting rights) as part of the deal. Renault increased its shareholding to 21.7% by 2010.
AB Volvo acquired 13% of the shares in the Japanese truck manufacturer Nissan Diesel
UD Trucks Corporation (UDトラックス株式会社, ''UD Torakkusu Kabushikigaisha'') is a Japanese company whose principal business is the manufacturing and sales of diesel trucks, buses, bus chassis and special-purpose vehicles. Its headquarte ...
(later renamed UD Trucks) from Nissan
, trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...
(part of the Renault-Nissan Alliance) during 2006, becoming a major shareholder. Volvo Group took complete ownership of Nissan Diesel in 2007 to extend its presence in the Asian Pacific market.
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 €3.02 billion. This share sale left Renault with around 17.5% of Volvo's voting rights. Renault sold their remaining shares in December 2012 (comprising 6.5% of the share capital and 17.2% of the voting rights at the time of transaction) for €1.6 billion, leaving Swedish industrial investment group Aktiebolaget Industrivärden as the largest shareholder, with 6.2% of the share capital and 18.7% of the voting rights. That same year, Volvo sold Volvo Aero to the British company GKN
GKN Ltd is a British multinational automotive and aerospace components business headquartered in Redditch, England. It is a long-running business known for many decades as Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds. It can trace its origins back to 1759 an ...
. In 2017 Volvo Cars owner Geely
Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd (ZGH), commonly known as Geely (吉利 "auspicious"), is a Chinese multinational automotive company headquartered in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. The company is privately held by Chinese billionaire entrepreneu ...
became the largest Volvo shareholder by number of shares after acquiring an 8.2% stake, displacing Industrivärden. Industrivärden kept more voting rights than Geely (Geely getting a 15.8%).
In December 2013, Volvo sold its Volvo Construction Equipment Rents division to Platinum Equity
Platinum Equity, LLC is an American private equity investment firm founded by Tom Gores in 1995. The firm focuses on leveraged buyout investments of established companies in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
History
Platinum Equity was founded in 199 ...
. In November 2016, Volvo announced its intention of divesting its Government Sales division, made up mainly of Renault Trucks' Renault Trucks Defense but also of Panhard
Panhard was a French motor vehicle manufacturer that began as one of the first makers of automobiles. It was a manufacturer of light tactical and military vehicles. Its final incarnation, now owned by Renault Trucks Defense, was formed ...
, ACMAT
ACMAT (''Ateliers de Construction Mécanique de L'Atlantique'', also known as ALM-ACMAT) ( en, Atlantic Mechanical Engineering Workshops) is a French manufacturer of cross-country and tactical military vehicles since 1958. Known for their reliabi ...
, Mack Defense in the United States, and Volvo Defense. The project for selling the division was later abandoned and, in May 2018, Volvo reorganized Renault Trucks Defense and renamed it Arquus.
In December 2018, Volvo announced it intended to sell a 75.1% controlling stake of its car telematics
Telematics is an interdisciplinary field encompassing telecommunications, vehicular technologies ( road transport, road safety, etc.), electrical engineering (sensors, instrumentation, wireless communications, etc.), and computer science (multimedi ...
subsidiary WirelessCar to Volkswagen
Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...
with the aim of focusing on telematics for commercial vehicles. The sale was completed in March 2019.
In December 2019, Volvo and Isuzu announced their intention of forming a strategic alliance A strategic alliance (also see strategic partnership) is an agreement between two or more parties to pursue a set of agreed upon objectives needed while remaining independent organizations.
The alliance is a cooperation or collaboration which ai ...
on commercial vehicles. As part of the agreement, Volvo would sell UD Trucks to Isuzu. The "final agreements" for the alliance were signed in October 2020, with UD Trucks sale pending on regulatory clearances. The sale was completed in April 2021.
In April 2020, Volvo and Daimler
Daimler is a German surname. It may refer to:
People
* Gottlieb Daimler (1834–1900), German inventor, industrialist and namesake of a series of automobile companies
* Adolf Daimler (1871–1913), engineer and son of Gottlieb Daimler
* Paul Da ...
announced that the former planned to acquire half of Daimler's fuel cell
A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most batteries in requ ...
business, forming a joint venture between the two companies.
In April 2021, Volvo announced that it had signed up a new partnership with steel manufacturer SSAB
SSAB AB, earlier ''Svenskt Stål AB'' (English: Swedish Steel), () is a Swedish company, formed in 1978, that specialises in processing raw material to produce steel. The largest shareholders are Aktiebolag Industrivärden and the Government of ...
to develop fossil fuel-free steel for future use in Volvo's vehicles. The partnership comes is derived from SSAB's own green steel venture, HYBRIT.
Corporate
Business
Volvo Group's operations include:
* Volvo Trucks
Volvo Trucks ( sv, Volvo Lastvagnar) is a truck manufacturing division of Volvo based in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Volvo Trucks was a separate company within Volvo. The Volvo Group was reorganised on 1 January 2012 and as a part of the process, Vol ...
(midsize-duty trucks for regional transportation and heavy-duty trucks for long-distance transportation, as well as heavy-duty trucks for the construction work segment)
* Mack Trucks
Mack Trucks, Inc., is an American truck manufacturing company and a former manufacturer of buses and trolley buses. Founded in 1900 as the Mack Brothers Company, it manufactured its first truck in 1905 and adopted its present name in 1922. Mack ...
(light-duty trucks for close distribution and heavy-duty trucks for long-distance transportation)
* Renault Trucks
Renault Trucks is a French commercial truck manufacturer with corporate headquarters at Saint-Priest near Lyon. Originally part of Renault, it has been a subsidiary of the Volvo Group since 2001.
From its beginnings in 1978 to 2002, the comp ...
(heavy-duty trucks for regional transportations and heavy-duty trucks for the construction work segment)
* Dongfeng Commercial Vehicles (45%) (trucks)
* VE Commercial Vehicles Limited Ltd., India (VECV), a joint venture between Volvo Group and Eicher Motors Limited
Eicher Motors Limited is an Indian multinational corporation, multinational automotive industry, automotive company that manufactures motorcycles and commercial vehicles, headquartered in New Delhi. Eicher is the parent company of Royal Enfield ...
in which Volvo holds 45.6% (trucks and buses)
* Volvo Construction Equipment
Volvo Construction Equipment - Volvo CE - (originally Munktells, Bolinder-Munktell, Volvo BM) is a major international company that develops, manufactures and markets equipment for construction and related industries. It is a subsidiary and busine ...
(construction equipment)
* SDLG
Shandong Lingong Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. (abbreviated SDLG), founded in 1972, is a subsidiary corporation of Volvo Construction Equipment, headquartered in Linyi, Shandong. Shandong Lingong Construction Machinery Co. is one of the most ...
(70%) (construction equipment)
* Volvo Group Venture Capital
The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...
(corporate investment company)
* Volvo Buses
Volvo Buses (Volvo Bus Corporation / formal name: ''Volvo Bussar AB'') (stylized as VOLVO) is a subsidiary and a business area of the Swedish vehicle maker Volvo, which became an independent division in 1968. It is based in Gothenburg.
It is on ...
(complete buses and bus chassis for city traffic, line traffic and tourist traffic)
* Volvo Financial Services Volvo Financial Services (VFS), established in 2001, develops and coordinates AB Volvo's operations in dealer and customer financing, insurance, and related services. Its world headquarters are located in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA. A global ...
(customer financing, inter-group banking, as real estate administration)
* Volvo Penta
Volvo Penta was founded as Penta in 1907 with the production of its first marine engine, the B1. The Penta company soon became an established internal combustion engine manufacturer, which in 1927 delivered the engine for Volvo's first passenge ...
(marine engine systems for leisure boats and commercial shipping, diesel engines and drive systems for industrial applications)
* Arquus (French military supplying division))
According to the company, in 2021 almost two thirds (62%) of its revenue came from trucks and services related to them. Second came construction equipment (25%), and the rest was from buses, marine engines, and minor operations, each of them below 5%.
Production facilities
Volvo has various production facilities. , it has plants in 19 countries, with 10 other countries having independent assemblers of Volvo products. The company also has product development, distribution, and logistics centers. Its first plant for vehicle assembly, on the Hisingen island, was owned by SKF until it was made part of the Volvo company in 1930. That year, Volvo acquired its supplier of engines in Skövde
Skövde () is a locality and urban centre in Skövde Municipality and Västra Götaland County, in the Västergötland (Western Gothland region) in central Southern Sweden.
Skövde is situated some 150 km northeast of Gothenburg, between Swe ...
(Pentavarken). In 1954, Volvo built a new truck assembly plant in Gothenburg and, in 1959– 1964, a car assembly plant in Torslanda
Torslanda is an urban district situated in Gothenburg Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 10,129 inhabitants in 2005.
Etymology
A Norse pagan place of sacrifice to the God Thor was once located here, which gave rise to the name ...
. The first truly branched away plant of Volvo was the Floby
Floby is a locality situated in Falköping Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 1,499 inhabitants in 2010.
History
In 1858 the first portion of the railway line connecting Stockholm and Gothenburg was opened, and a railway sta ...
gearbox plant (100 kilometers to the northeast of Gothenburg), incorporated in 1958. In the 1960s and early 1970s, Volvo and its assembly
partners opened plants in Canada, Belgium, Malaysia,[ and Australia.] In the early part of that period Volvo also started to venture into vehicles other than passenger cars and road-going commercial vehicles by acquiring the Eskilstuna
Eskilstuna () is a city and the seat of Eskilstuna Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden. The city of Eskilstuna had 67,359 inhabitants in 2015, with a total population of 100,092 inhabitants in Eskilstuna municipality (2014). Eskilstuna has ...
plant (Bolinder-Munktell).[ From the 1970s onwards, Volvo set up various facilities (]Bengtsfors
Bengtsfors () is a locality and the seat of Bengtsfors Municipality, Västra Götaland County
Västra Götaland County ( sv, Västra Götalands län) is a county or '' län'' on the western coast of Sweden.
The county is the second most popul ...
, Lindesberg
Lindesberg () is a locality and the seat of Lindesberg Municipality, Örebro County, Sweden with 9,672 inhabitants in 2017.
History
Lindesberg has centuries old history, being the center of an old mining district. The earliest known traces ...
, Vara
Vara or VARA may refer to:
Geography
*Vara (river), in Liguria, Italy
*Vara Parish, former municipality in Tartu County, Estonia
* Vara, Estonia, village in Peipsiääre Parish, Tartu County, Estonia
*Vara Municipality, municipality in western Swe ...
, Tanumshede
Tanumshede is a locality and the seat of Tanum Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 1,697 inhabitants in 2010.
See also
* Rock Carvings in Tanum
The Rock Carvings in Tanum ( sv, Hällristningsområdet i Tanum) are a collection of ...
, Färgelanda
Färgelanda is a locality and the seat of Färgelanda Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name i ...
,[ ]Borås
Borås ( , , ) is a city (officially, a locality) and the seat of Borås Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 66,273 inhabitants in 2010.
Geography
Borås is located at the point of two crossing railways, among them the ...
), most of them within a 150 kilometer radius of Gothenburg,[ and gradually acquired the Dutch ]DAF
Daf ( fa, دف) also known as Dâyere and Riq is a Middle Eastern (mainly Iranian) frame drum musical instrument, used in popular and classical music in South and Central Asia. It is also used in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Iran, Uzbe ...
car plants. It also established its first South American plant in Curitiba
Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Brazil. The city's population was 1,948,626 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the largest in ...
, Brazil.
From the mid-1970s onwards, Volvo began building assembly plants with smaller assembly lines, more worker-centric and with better use of automation, leaving Fordism
Fordism is a manufacturing technology that serves as the basis of modern economic and social systems in industrialized, standardized mass production and mass consumption. The concept is named after Henry Ford. It is used in social, economic, and ...
. These were Kalmar
Kalmar (, , ) is a city in the southeast of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 36,392 inhabitants in 2010 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total of ...
(car assembly, built in 1974),[ Tuve (truck assembly, 1982)] and Uddevalla
Uddevalla (old no, Oddevold) is a town and the seat of Uddevalla Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. In 2015, it had a population of 34 781.
It is located at a bay of the south-eastern part of Skagerrak. The beaches of Uddevalla are ...
(car assembly, 1989). Kalmar and Uddevalla were closed down in the early 1990s, following yearly losses.[ The Tuve plant (called the LB plant) replaced the Gothenburg plant (X plant) for truck assembly through the 1980s, as the former could produce more technologically complex models.][ In 1982, Volvo gained its first plant in the United States, the New River Valley plant in ]Dublin, Virginia
Dublin is a town in Pulaski County, Virginia, Pulaski County, Virginia, United States. The amount of Bojangles was 1 in 2023. It is part of the Blacksburg, Virginia, Blacksburg–Christiansburg, Virginia, Christiansburg Blacksburg-Christiansbur ...
, after acquiring the assets of the White Motor Corporation
The White Motor Company was an American automobile, truck, bus and agricultural tractor manufacturer from 1900 until 1980. The company also produced bicycles, roller skates, automatic lathes, and sewing machines. Before World War II, the compa ...
. Starting in the late 1980s, Volvo expanded its limited bus production capabilities through acquisitions in various countries (Swedish Saffle Karroseri, Dutch Aabenraa, German Drögmöller Karroserien, Canadian Prévost Car, Finnish Carrus, American Nova Bus, Mexican Mexicana de Autobuses). In the late 1990s, after a short-lived joint venture with Polish manufacturer Jelcz
Jelcz (pronounced like ''Yelch'' after the town of the same name) is a Polish brand of trucks, military vehicles, buses and trolley buses produced by ''Zakłady Samochodowe Jelcz''/''Jelczańskie Zakłady Samochodowe'', with both names roughly ...
, Volvo built its main bus production hub for Europe in Wroclaw.[ In the 1990s, Volvo also increased its construction equipment assets by acquiring the Swedish company Åkerman and the construction equipment division of ]Samsung Heavy Industries
Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (Korean: 삼성중공업) is one of the largest shipbuilders in the world and one of the "Big Three" shipbuilders of South Korea (including Hyundai and Daewoo). Geoje (in Gyeongsangnam-do) is one of the largest ...
. In 1998, the company opened an assembly facility for its three main heavy product lines (trucks, construction equipment, and buses) near Bangalore
Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
, India.[
Volvo sold all its car manufacturing assets in 1999.][
Following the acquisition of Renault Véhicules Industriels][ and Nissan Diesel] in the 2000s, Volvo gained various production facilities in Europe, North America, and Asia.[
In 2014, Volvo's Volvo Construction Equipment acquired the ]haul truck
Haul trucks are off-highway, rigid dump trucks specifically engineered for use in high-production mining and heavy-duty construction environments. Haul trucks are also used for transporting construction equipment from job site to job site. Some ar ...
manufacturing division of Terex Corporation
Terex Corporation is an American worldwide manufacturer of lifting and material-handling plant for a variety of industries including construction, infrastructure, quarrying, recycling, energy, mining, shipping, transportation, refining and ut ...
, which included five truck models and a manufacturing facility in Motherwell
Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...
, Scotland.
Trademark
Volvo Trademark Holding AB is equally owned by AB Volvo and Volvo Car Corporation.
The main activity of the company is to own, maintain, protect and preserve the Volvo trademarks (including ''Volvo'', the Volvo device marks (grille slash & iron mark) ''Volvo Aero
Volvo Aero was a Swedish aircraft, guided missiles and rocket engine manufacturer. It became ''GKN Aerospace Engine Systems'' following the company's acquisition by British engineering conglomerate GKN during 2012.
It was originally establish ...
'' and ''Volvo Penta
Volvo Penta was founded as Penta in 1907 with the production of its first marine engine, the B1. The Penta company soon became an established internal combustion engine manufacturer, which in 1927 delivered the engine for Volvo's first passenge ...
'') on behalf of its owners and to license these rights to its owners. The day-to-day work is focused upon maintaining the global portfolio of trademark registrations and to extend sufficiently the scope of the registered protection for the Volvo trademarks.
The main business is also to act against unauthorised registration and use (including counterfeit
To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...
ing) of trademarks identical or similar to the Volvo trademarks on a global basis.
Collaboration with universities and colleges
Volvo has a strategic collaboration within research and recruitment with a number of selected colleges and universities such as Penn State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...
, INSA Lyon
The Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) is a non-profit, nonpartisan 501(c)(6) professional organization based in Arlington Virginia for public and private sector members of the United States Intelligence Community.
History
...
, EMLYON Business School, NC State University
North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...
, Sophia University
Sophia University (Japanese: 上智大学, ''Jōchi Daigaku''; Latin: ''Universitas Sedis Sapientiae'') is a private research university in Japan. Sophia is one of the three ''Sōkeijōchi'' (早慶上智) private universities, a group of the to ...
, Chalmers University of Technology
Chalmers University of Technology ( sv, Chalmers tekniska högskola, often shortened to Chalmers) is a Swedish university located in Gothenburg that conducts research and education in technology and natural sciences at a high international level ...
, The Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg, Mälardalen University College
Mälardalen University (Swedish: ''Mälardalens universitet''), or MDU, is a Swedish university college located in Västerås and Eskilstuna, Sweden. It has 16,000 students and around 1000 employees, of which 91 are professors, 504 teachers, and ...
, and the University of Skövde
The University of Skövde (in Swedish: Högskolan i Skövde, HIS) is a state university in Skövde, Sweden. The University of Skövde was granted university status in 1983 and is now an academic institution with general and specialised educational ...
.
See also
* Port of Gothenburg
The municipally-owned Port of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborgs hamn) is the largest port in the Nordic countries, with over 11,000 ship visits per year from over 140 destinations worldwide. As the only Swedish port with the capacity to cope with the ...
Notes
References
External links
*
* – ''for Volvo-branded companies''.
{{Authority control
Car manufacturers of Sweden
Truck manufacturers of Sweden
Marine engine manufacturers
Multinational companies headquartered in Sweden
Swedish companies established in 1927
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1927
Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq
Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange
Companies formerly listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange
Swedish brands
Companies listed on Nasdaq Stockholm
Aerospace companies of Sweden
Car brands
Diesel engine manufacturers
Automotive transmission makers
Engine manufacturers of Sweden