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- The Chinese are doing Volvo really well
- "Aggressive? No, just confident "
- "Our top priority: safety"
- Volvo XC90 – The noble Swedish giant
- It wasn’t really about cars
- This is what distinguishes the two cross-country Swedes
- "Real car company for the first time"
- SUV style sedan
The Chinese are doing Volvo really well
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Isn’t it wonderful? The PV444, better known under the name Buckel-Volvo, is the most likeable Swedish cruiser of all time. Responsible for …
Source: Volvo
are these two gentlemen: Assar Gabrielsson (left) and Gustaf Larson founded Volvo in 1915. At first it was all about ball bearings, but … ">
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… are these two gentlemen: Assar Gabrielsson (left) and Gustaf Larson founded Volvo in 1915. At first it was all about ball bearings, but …
Source: Volvo
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… In 1927, Volvo entered the car business with the OV4 Jakob (left). Another milestone was Europe’s first streamlined car, the Volvo PV36 Carioca from 1935.
Source: Volvo
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Two classics of the 1960s: The Volvo 144S started the design era of angular lines, which meant a departure from the more rounded Volvo P121S Amazon. It was also legendary …
Source: Volvo
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… the 1961 introduced Volvo 1800E (rear) and its shooting brake version 1800ES launched ten years later – better known under the name Snow White’s coffin.
Source: Volvo
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With the Volvo 850 (here the top version T5R), the last Volvo in the typical angular design came onto the market in 1991, today …
Source: Volvo
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… more elegant, but no less bulky designs dominate, such as the current large SUV XC90.
Source: Volvo
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The Volvo 164 from 1972 and the …
Source: Volvo
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… brand new S90 coming out in 2016. Times change, so do cars.
Source: Volvo
The Swedish car brand Volvo has established itself in the premium class, has correspondingly high prices and is popular with fans and classic car enthusiasts. And now finally wants to grow properly.
M.an can easily make a virtue out of necessity. You can ignore the fact that direct competition sells three or four times more and you can say: "Everyone doesn’t have to like us."
This is what Hakan Samuelsson, the boss of Volvo, says when asked about the difference to his German competitors Audi, BMW and Mercedes. In this way you can also hide what you have missed for 100 years, namely to catch up with the most successful in the same segment.
Volvo now has ambitious plans for this, having just celebrated its 100th birthday. Of the 500,000 cars that the Swedes are likely to sell this year, they want to have 800,000 new registrations worldwide by 2020 – not even the Germans will have that growth.
"Aggressive? No, just confident "
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The new Volvo flagship S90 looks very wide and …
Source: Volvo
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… Also clearly exceeds its predecessor, the S80, in length: the new car is now 4.96 meters.
Source: Volvo
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The concave radiator grille with 23 vertical ribs looks aggressive to some, design boss Thomas Ingenlath calls the S90 face "confident and strong". Important design element…ment …
Source: Volvo
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… like the XC90 is the daytime running light called “Thor’s Hammer”.
Source: Volvo
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Forecast: When revising after three or four years, the rear in particular will be due – in contrast to the very clear design of the front and profile, it looks indecisive.
Source: Volvo
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Volvo used a lot of leather, wood and some chrome in the interior of the S90. design and …
Source: Volvo
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… Processing meet the highest demands. As in the XC90, it is new …
Source: Volvo
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… vertical central display. The format is unusual for viewing the navigation system, but other important areas (telephone, air conditioning, entertainment) are not …hidden and can be brought to the foreground with a tap on the touchscreen.
Source: Volvo
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Source: Volvo
The example of Volvo shows that car companies can flourish under foreign rule. Since the Chinese company Geely took over Volvo four years ago, things have been improving in terms of registration numbers and technology. The new large SUV XC90 is on a new platform, which will be expanded in 2016 to include the sedan S90 including the V90 station wagon and which will extend to the mid-range 60s models in the future.
And there is a kind of voluntary commitment that Samuelsson and his German Development Director Peter Mertens repeat: “By 2020 nobody should die or seriously injure themselves in a new Volvo.” That is a word that has never been heard from others Companies, and it underlines that Volvo wants to be a pioneer in terms of assistance systems and autonomous driving. Motto: Machines don’t make mistakes, people stay healthy.
This particular interpretation of the subject of active safety has its roots in Volvo’s history. Soon after the cars learned to run, Volvo engineers paid particular attention to the safety of the occupants, at that time still passive due to the lack of electronics.
"Our top priority: safety"
All Volvo models have a circle with an arrow pointing diagonally upwards as their logo. It symbolizes the metal iron, and with its use in the early phase of automobile construction, Volvo soon became the epitome of stability and safety – after all, in the 1920s, most car brands used cheaper materials such as wood.
The decision in favor of steel was based on the creed of company founders Assar Gabrielsson and Gustav Larson: “Our cars are driven by people. That is why our top priority must be and remain one thing – safety. ”The first model that made this maxim known worldwide was the PV444, presented in 1944, with a safety passenger cell and windshield made of laminated glass.
Both innovations were later adapted by the competition, as was the three-point seat belt, which was standard from 1959 in the Volvo P120 Amazon and PV544, or the dual-circuit braking system established in the Volvo 140 in 1966. The reboard child seat from 1972 and the side airbags in the standard since 1995 are considered further pioneering achievements Compact models S40 and V40.
Volvo XC90 – The noble Swedish giant
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The cliche demands that SUVs are depicted in front of a rustic backdrop. The Volvo XC90 may not have outstanding off-road capabilities, but it does have all-wheel drive and the like…nd…
Source: Stefan Anker
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…sufficient ground clearance. The best-selling model in the range is the D5 diesel with 225 hp. On the design…
Source: Stefan Anker
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…And there is little to complain about in terms of workmanship. In addition to the touchscreen in the center console, the multifunction steering wheel stands out. Particularly noble…
Source: Stefan Anker
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…the start-stop switch is advised. The car can be equipped with a second rear bench for a surcharge. But even if all the places are taken,…
Source: Stefan Anker
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a trunk volume of 314 liters is available. When benches are folded down, they become…
Source: Stefan Anker
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…a remarkable 1868 liters. The Volvo XC90 D5 is 4.95 meters long. In the simplest version, Kinetic, it costs 53,700 euros.
Source: Stefan Anker
So pride in the ominous "Swedish steel" is no longer enough to build good and safe cars, and of course the strategies of lightweight construction and an intelligent mix of materials have now also found their way into Volvo – you can also see that in the now more dynamically styled cars.
Some fans, however, still cry after the times, because Volvo models did not seem to come from the design department, but were essentially designed with the help of a protractor: the main thing is that every corner was 90 degrees.
At least that was true from the 1960s, when the 140/164 types and their successors came onto the market as solid, angular family bodies.
It wasn’t really about cars
Previously, Volvo had also brought beautifully curvy bodies onto the market, such as the first European streamlined sedan PV36 Carioca (from 1935), the so-called humpback Volvo PV444 / 544 (from 1944) as the first European new developments after the Second World War and the elegant P120 Amazon ( from 1956).
Even the very first Volvo model, the OV4 Jakob, was not a box, but a very handsome convertible. It came out in 1927 and, twelve years after the brand was founded, laid the financial foundation for the start of series production of cars.
Initially, Volvo was not intended as a car company: in 1915, Svenska Kullagerfabriken SKF Volvo was founded as a subsidiary – for the sale of ball bearings. Hence the brand name: Volvo is Latin and means "I roll".
This is what distinguishes the two cross-country Swedes
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The impression is obvious: the Cross Country version of this Volvo S60 borrows from BMW’s SUV coupe concept a la X6. In fact, the manufacturer makes no mistake about driving a car…it in a new segment and emphasizes the origins of the sedan. On the other hand, the Swedes move on well-tried terrain with …
Source: Volvo
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… the station wagon counterpart V60 Cross Country, which has also been reissued and placed 6.5 centimeters higher than the original version such as the sedan. While the Lademe…ister will probably sell better in Germany than the S60, but is this …
Source: sp-x
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… the bigger eye-catcher. Both cars make no difference on the other hand …
Source: sp-x
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… in the cockpit. Regardless of whether it is a station wagon or limousine, whether cross country or not, the workplace is always the same – apart from the usual customization options that m…in modern cars. The car’s extras include comfort seats, distance radar, traffic sign recognition and online connectivity. However …
Source: sp-x
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… the Volvo S60 Cross Country is only available in the highest equipment variant, Summum, and only with two engine options. The two-liter four-cylinder diesel has 190 hp, the all…radler is powered by an equally powerful 2.4-liter five-cylinder. Even with front-wheel drive, the SUV sedan costs 43,840 euros, with 4×4 drive and six-speed automatic transmission, 4600 euros have to be added. The entry-level price of 36,350 euros applies to the front-wheel drive V60 Cross Country as a manual switch with a small 150 hp diesel engine.
Source: Volvo
However, the ball bearing sales did not want to start rolling under this name, which is why SKF discontinued the brand from 1920. It wasn’t until the Volvo founding fathers Gabrielsson and Larson were able to convince the SKF management of the prospects of their first vehicle development six years later that SKF remembered the subsidiary Volvo and organized its financial commitment for the automotive industry under names.
On April 14, 1927, the Swedish Jacob’s Day, the Volvo saga got going with the OV4 Jakob. The open touring cars were built in a former ball bearing factory building in Lundby near Gothenburg. Everything was ready for the expected sales boom – and then things turned out very differently. The otherwise patriotic, but above all pragmatic Swedes initially continued to prefer American and German cars, while Volvo could not deliver 300 vehicles in the first year. this
SKF ensured the liquidity of the young car company, and so Gabrielsson and Larson were able to add from 1928. They expanded the Volvo portfolio with closed touring cars, an innovative station wagon and light trucks, so that the first profit could be made in 1929, precisely the year of the Great Depression.
"Real car company for the first time"
In May 1932, Gothenburg celebrated 10,000. produced Volvo, of which 6,200 were commercial vehicles, and two years later SKF split up. After all, it was listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange as early as 1935. While trucks and buses were the most important profit makers in the 1930s, cars only became Swedish export bestsellers after the Second World War.
In terms of earnings, things looked very different again at the end of the 20th century, which is why in 1999 the car division was separated from the Volvo Group (with industrial plants, trucks, buses, construction machinery, boat and aircraft engines) and sold to Ford . As a result, Volvo Trucks is the last Swedish-owned vehicle manufacturer alongside the sports car manufacturer Koenigsegg.
Volvo Cars still works in Sweden, of course, but belongs to the Chinese – which Hakan Samuelsson is pleased to see. “For the first time, we are a real car company, not like Ford or the Volvo Group. Back then we never had a proper board of directors or management that only looked after cars. "
SUV style sedan
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The SUV trend no longer leaves the classic notchback sedan unaffected.
Source: Volvo
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Volvo is now not only putting its station wagons, but also the mid-range S60 model in its off-road outfit.
Source: Volvo
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One variant is even suitable for easy terrain. Which is less due to the chic cross-country insignia.
Source: Volvo
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The basic model has to do without all-wheel drive and is driven by a two-liter four-cylinder diesel with 181 hp.
Source: Volvo
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If you want to have both axles powered, you have to choose the five-cylinder diesel with 215 hp and then you could at least feel comfortable on very easy terrain.
Source: Volvo
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The Swedish manufacturer has not yet given any prices. The surcharge compared to the standard version should be almost 2000 euros, which is a starting price of almost 36,000 euros…o suggests.
Source: Volvo
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Volvo first showed the new an off-road variant of the sporty station wagon in California.
Source: Volvo
Geely seems to be doing Volvo as well as the Indian conglomerate Tata is a blessing for Jaguar Land Rover: You help determine the strategy, pave the way and otherwise let the engineers do the work. Of course, Geely also made sure that Volvo could gain a foothold in the world’s largest car market in China.
Without Geely, Volvo would not have achieved that in four years, admits Hakan Samuelsson. Then to add: "But financially we did it all ourselves."
Always nice when the centenarians are doing well.
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