Initially the company was founded in 1915 for the manufacture and marketing of bearings for the automotive industry.
Volvo gradually emerged as a quality produce of durable, affordable but non fancy cars that could be sold in export markets at reasonable prices, at the time because of low Swedish wages.
Volvo managed to become internationally competitive despite its small scale of operations.
During the 1960s, Volvo’s production was far smaller than that regarded by industrial economists internationally as the viable minimum and even the Swedish Treasury refused to support financially Volvo’s attempt to launch its cars in the US market.
By the early 1970s the US Volvo’s largest market. By the mid to late 1990s Volvo had begun to introduce a series of new products that would literally change its image: the S80 luxury sedan, the C70 coupe and convertible, the V70 T5 turbocharged high performance sports-wagon, the S&V40 (new smaller Volvos) and the SUV-like Cross Country all-wheel-drive wagon.
In 1999, Volvo has been acquired by Ford, before to be sold to Chinese Geely in 2010.
Business history of Volvo
