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1968
The exclusive six-cylinder Volvo 164 is launched, offering refinements like power steering and automatic transmission.
1954
Volvo unveils the prototype of the Volvo Sport, an American-inspired two-seater with a fibreglass body.
Volvo Group management propose a far-reaching joint venture with Norway, but the idea is dropped when the majority of Volvo shareholders vote against it.
Another key innovation is enlisting the aid of medical experts in designing the front seats for Volvos.
Some say it will be like trying to sell refrigerators to Eskimos, but Volvo soon proves that demand for cars like this does exist in the US.
When Gunnar Engellau later takes over as managing director, he stops all output of the Volvo Sport, after only 67 of the production version have been built.
Volvo’s first engine employing four-valve technology is presented in the Volvo 740 GLT 16 Valve model.
The company loses money on the first 2,300 cars promised to buyers at the 1944 Stockholm exhibition for 4,800 kronor.
Volvo production in Europe is now centred on the plants in Torslanda, Ghent and Born (in the Netherlands).
In the UK, the Prince Michael Road Safety Award is presented to Volvo for the mechanical seat belt tensioner.
The world-wide economic depression is having an impact on car sales in Sweden too, but Volvo manages to retain its eight per cent market share.
1949
This year Volvo builds more cars than trucks and buses, for the first time since truck production began in 1928.
Shown first as a Design Concept in Detroit in January, the production version of the lively, youthful little Volvo with the glass tailgate is launched later in the year in Paris.
Volvo History 1927 to 2006
1940
As a result of petrol rationing and shortages of materials, Volvo unit sales fall to 5,900 vehicles this year, down from the 1939 level of 7,306 vehicles.
The company presents a range of child safety accessories for cars, including a rear-facing seat for children aged up to four.
Volvo purchases four million square metres of land in Gothenburg (Hisingen) and starts building roads to the site where the Torslanda plant will take shape.
At an outdoor ceremony that same day, 26 Volvo employees who have won a white PV544 each in a prize draw are presented with the papers to their new cars a splendid way of rounding off production of the model which made such a difference to Volvo’s future.
2000
It is a busy year for new-model launches new versions of the Volvo S40 and V40, the new Volvo V70 and V70 XC, and the brand-new Volvo S60, a sporty saloon.
1972
Wanting to add a smaller model to its range, Volvo buys a 33 per cent stake in the car division of DAF in the Netherlands.
The brand’s founders, managing director Assar Gabrielsson and technical director Gustaf Larson, are to remain at the helm of the company until the mid-1950s.
And from this year, taxi operators already an important customer group have two new eight-seater Volvos to choose from: the PV801 and PV802 (with and without internal partition).
In terms of engineering, the PV60 is a direct descendant of the pre-war Volvos a solid, conventional model.
1981
The one-millionth Volvo bound for the US market comes off the production line in February, a silver 240 estate.
The brand makes a comeback in motorsport when Rickard Rydell enters the British Touring Car Championship, driving a Volvo 850 estate! 1995
The first Volvos to emerge from the partnership with Mitsubishi are presented: the Volvo S40 saloon and the V40 estate.
At the end of the year Volvo presents its new City Safety system, which uses radar to help the driver avoid low-speed collisions.
In most export markets, names such as Volvo 121 or Volvo 122S (for one Sport version) are to be the norm for this series.
1991
The Volvo 850 GLT is presented as dynamic car with four world-firsts" one at the front, one at the back and two in the middle.
1998
Unveiled in May is the Volvo S80, the first car based on Volvo’s new large-car platform.
Unveiled at the motor show in Geneva is the next-generation S80, built on a Volvo-American platform.
2004
Volvo presents its Blind Spot Information System (BLIS), a camera-based system which monitors the driver’s potential blind spot, a world-first for cars.
The initial response is slow, however, until head of engineering Karl Lindblom ships the first PV444 prototype across to the States to secure supplies of sheet steel for Volvo.
1976
The new model from Volvo Car BV, the Volvo 343, marks the company’s entry into the compact market segment.
The company celebrates the 50th birthday of the Volvo estate in this anniversary year of the Volvo Duett.
With its five-cylinder, 250-bhp turbo engine, it is, at the time, the most powerful Volvo ever made.
on 8 March, the chairman of an extraordinary general meeting of AB Volvo raps his gavel on the table.
This makes Volvo the world’s first car-maker to fit this type of belt as standard equipment.
The company presents a drivable version of the Safety Concept Car, and also the Adventure Concept Car 1.
Parent company SKF comes close to selling Volvo to Nash in the US for financial reasons, but Assar Gabrielsson manages to avert this move.
The company takes the unusual step of suspending new orders altogether, to let supply catch up with demand.
Volvo celebrates its 60th birthday with events like a big car parade through the streets of Gothenburg.
1999
New engine options are introduced for the Volvo S80, including diesel and Bi-Fuel (gas or petrol).
Volvo in Sweden introduces a new type of warranty, providing Volvo buyers with cover against unexpected service and repair costs for the first three years of the car’s life.
The new tourer is priced at 4,800 kronor, and the later PV4 saloon version will cost 1,000 kronor more.
Volvo presents another world-first in California the three-way catalytic converter with the lambda sensor.
1974
A whole new generation of cars is presented this summer the Volvo 240 (six variants) and the 260 (two versions).
The Swedish Automobile Association awards Volvo its gold medal for safety, for features including day-running lights and the stepped-bore master cylinder for braking systems.
1963
Local assembly and local component incentives lead to Volvo opening its first foreign assembly plant, in Halifax, Canada.
Orders are taken for the PV444 at the same price as for the very first Volvo in 1927: 4,800 kronor.
Milestones in Volvo History from 1927 to 2006
1996
The last of the Volvo 400 series cars is made in November, taking the total for the whole series to almost 700,000 units.
The XC concept proves a real success for Volvo Cars, and will reappear in successive vehicle generations.
The Volvo XC90 now has another engine option, a totally new compact V8 designed by Volvo and manufactured by Yamaha.
1979
Volvo sells 310,000 cars this year, which means output is almost 25 per cent higher than in 1978.
Dealer advertising brings crowds of people out onto the streets to see Volvo’s little peacetime car for themselves.
By October the plant in Olofström has supplied pressed body components for five million Volvo bodies.
1946
The after-effects of the strike are still hampering Volvo’s efforts to get full output under way.
The shareholders have approved Ford Motor Company’s acquisition of Volvo Car Corporation for the sum of 50 billion Swedish kronor.
A proposed merger between Volvo and Saab-Scania comes to nothing because of a lack of support from Saab-Scania management.
The US is now the company’s biggest export market by far, and Volvo is the fourth-largest imported brand there.
AB Volvo acquires the majority shareholding in Svenska Flygmotor AB (later to become Volvo Aero).
New registrations of Volvo cars in Sweden this year come to 39,016 units the highest total any single brand has achieved by this stage.
The Volvo Duett is launched as cars in one" one for work, the other for leisure.
The company pays its first dividend to shareholders and buys a controlling stake in its engine supplier, AB Pentaverken in Skövde.
Volvo becomes the owner of Svenska Stålpressnings AB in Olofström, a company which has made bodies and body parts for the brand since 1927.
Introduced to fill a similar market niche is the Volvo 145 Express, an estate model with an extra-high roof.
An insurance company called Volvia is set up to offer ongoing cover to Volvo owners after their initial accident damage warranties expire.
1942
Volvo acquires Köpings Mekaniska Werkstad AB, its supplier of gearboxes, gearwheels and related components since 1927.
6 litre four-cylinder turbodiesel engine is the first Volvo to achieve fuel consumption of under 5 litres for every 100 kilometres driven.
1980
Volvo introduces its first turbo model, the Volvo 240 Turbo, which is powered by the 155 bhp B21 ET engine.
Production of the Volvo Sport is stopped, and 1957 is also to be the last model year when the PV444 is made.
2002
January brings the launch of a totally new Volvo at the motor show in Detroit the Volvo XC90.
The C version of the PV544 now has the B18 engine a welcome boost for a model which has been overshadowed by the Volvo Amazon.
Their distinctive front-end design has clearly been influenced by the Volvo Experimental Safety Car.
Three new concept cars are presented in the course of the year the Volvo YCC, the 3CC and the Tandem.
In the brand’s new model-naming system, S stands for saloon or sedan, V is for versatility (estate models), and C stands for coupé or convertible.
1944
The PV444 and PV60 go on show in September at a major exhibition of Volvo products in Stockholm.
This cheaper, more basic derivative of the PV36 can be seen as Volvo’s first attempt at producing a popular family model.
Previewed in the shape of the Performance Concept Car 1, the Volvo S60R and V70 R high-performance models are unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in the autumn.
New this year is the Volvo 262 Coupé, a very exclusive model designed and built by Bertone of Italy.
Having worked on this solution already, Volvo is able to start making producer gas units within a month or two of the start of the war.
1986
Volvo’s output of estate models reaches 117,000 units this year, making it the leading estate car manufacturer in its size class.
A proposed merger of Volvo and Renault is called off, largely on account of the reservations of shareholders and staff.
In the course of the war, the company manufactures tens of thousands of these units, for cars and trucks in roughly equal numbers.
Volvo and Renault enter into an agreement for industrial cooperation, research development.
1977
Volvo celebrates its fiftieth anniversary, releasing a special model of the 240 to mark the occasion.
1959
Front-seat three-point seat belts are made standard in Volvo Amazons and PV544s bound for Scandinavian markets.
Many Volvos are now being sold with a factory-fitted engine of type ECG, already modified to run on producer gas.
The Dutch state, Volvo Cars and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation set up a joint venture company, NedCar, to replace Volvo Car BV.
1945
A drawn-out strike in engineering industries puts paid to Volvo’s plans for rapid commencement of production when the war finally ends.
The Volvo YCC (Your Concept Car) is developed by an all-female project team in Gothenburg, a fact which attracts much attention before it is even built.
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