10 things you didn’t knew about Volvo
1. The name ” Volvo” comes from the Latin verb “volvere” (to twist, to spin) and was recorded in 1915. The mark Volvo had to appear on the label of some bearing balls manufactured for the United States market but they were never put on sale. The fist product that appeared under the mark of Volvo was a car.
2. The first Volvo model has been produced by Assar Gabrielson and Gustav Larsson on 14 April 1927, in a small factory in Goteborg. The model was named OV4 and Volvo sold 297 cars in its first year. The nickname of the first model produced by the two Swedes was “Jakob”.
3. The purpose of the two Swedish engineers was to produce a car that would last to the poor Swedish roads and the low temperatures of Scandinavian winters.
4. A Volvo engineer developed one of the most popular inventions in the history of the automobile. It is Nils Bohlin and safety belt attached in three points, invented in 1958. A year later, all Volvo models already benefiting from this type of belt. The safety belt developed by Bohlin is used today on all car models.
5. In the United States there is a club of owners of old Volvo models. It is open to any owner of a Volvo model that has exceeded 200.000 km and is called, simply, Volvo High Mileage Club. Each club member receives a special badge and a sticker that are held with great honor.
6. The number of Volvo models produced until today has just exceeded 15.000.000.
7. Volvo has a very good image on the safety chapter. All models of Volvo are tested before the launch in the Volvo Safety Center, the largest building in the world dedicated exclusively to safety. Its main parts are a hall of test and two tunnels of 108 meters in length, one of them able to change it’s angle of incidence for Volvo to generate various types of accidents. The tunnel weighs 600 tonnes.
8. Volvo can reproduce in the Volvo Safety Center up to 45 accidents per day.
9. Worldwide, the average age of Volvo models in circulation is 19.8 years. The only car manufacturer that is better in this chapter is the Mercedes Benz.
10. Volvo constantly grew it’s presence outside the automotive industry. The Swedish company created in 2001 the Volvo Ocean Race, an annual competition of boats which takes place around the world. Also, Volvo is a sponsor of two major tennis tournaments: Volvo Masters (Spain) and the Volvo China Open. Culture is another favorite area for the Swedish company: Volvo sponsors the Opera and Symphony Orchestra of Goteborg.
