Volvo

Volvo is a automobile maker that was founded in 1927 in the city of Gothenburg in Sweden, as a spin-off from roller ball bearing maker SKF.

Since the 1960s Volvo cars have had a reputation for safety[?] in crashes, rather than speed or handling ability. The Volvo design team patented the 3-point seatbelt but soon after released it to the public. However by the mid-1990s there was little to distinguish most manufacturers on safety when put through tests such as NCAP[?]. In the early 1970s Volvo acquired the car-making division of the Dutch company DAF, and marketed their small cars as Volvos before releasing the Dutch-built 340 series. Smaller Volvos are still built in the Netherlands.

On January 28, 1998 Ford Motor Company announced the buyout of Volvo for $6.45 billion and in 1999, the automobile manufactuing of Volvo was acquired by Ford.

Volvo now consists of two parts:

• Volvo Group - the manufacturing of commercial vehicles, etc. owned by Swedish interests.
• Volvo Cars - the manufacturing of automobiles owned by Ford Motor Company.

Both use and jointly owns (50/50), the Volvo trademark. One of the main promotional activities for the trademark is the sailing contest Volvo Ocean Race, formerly the Whitbread Around the World Cup[?].

Cars

• Volvo PV[?]
• Volvo Duett
• Volvo Amazon
• Volvo 66
• Volvo 140[?]
• Volvo 240[?]
• Volvo 340[?]
• Volvo 740[?]

Engines

• B4B[?] and B14A[?] - fitted into the Volvo PV[?] and Volvo Duett from 1947 to 1956
• B16[?] (A and B) - fitted into the PV, Duett and Volvo Amazon from 1957 to 1960
• B18[?] and B20[?] - fitted into all Volvo models from 1961 to 1974.
• B21[?] and B23[?] - fitted from 1975
• PRV engine - developed together with Renault and Peugeot

Gearboxes

• M40
• M400
• M410[?]
• M41
• M45
• M46[?]
• M47[?]
• M50[?]
• M51[?]

External Links

• Volvo Group (http://www.volvo.com/) - Official site
• Volvo Cars (http://www.volvocars.com/) - Automobiles Official Site
• Open Directory on Volvo (http://dmoz.org/Recreation/Autos/Makes_and_Models/Volvo/)
• Texas Volvo Club (http://www.texasvolvoclub.com/)
• Volvo Club of America (http://www.vcoa.org/)