Volvo

AB Volvo
Publicly traded Aktiebolag
Traded as Nasdaq Stockholm: VOLV B
Industry Heavy equipment
Founded 1927 (1927)
Founders Assar Gabrielsson and Gustav Larson
Headquarters Gothenburg, Sweden
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people

Carl-Henric Svanberg (Chairman)

Martin Lundstedt (President and CEO)
Products Trucks, Buses, Construction equipment, Marine and industrial engines, Financial services
Revenue Decrease 301.914 billion kr (2016)[1]
Decrease 20.826 billion kr (2016)[1]
Profit Decrease 13.223 billion kr (2016)[1]
Total assets Increase 398.916 billion kr (2016)[1]
Total equity Increase 97.764 billion kr (2016)[1]
Number of employees
 94,914 (2016)[1]
Subsidiaries Volvo Trucks, Mack Trucks, Renault Trucks, UD Trucks, Dongfeng Commercial Vehicles (45%), VE Commercial Vehicles (Eicher) (45.6%), Volvo Construction Equipment, Terex Trucks, SDLG (70%), Volvo Buses, Nova Bus, Prevost Car, Volvo Penta
Website volvogroup.com

The Volvo Group (Swedish: Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo) (stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish-owned multinational manufacturing company headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of trucks, buses and construction equipment, Volvo also supplies marine and industrial drive systems and financial services. In 2016, it was the world’s second largest manufacturer of heavy-duty trucks.[1]

Although often conflated with the luxury vehicle manufacturer Volvo Cars, also based in Gothenburg, the two firms have been independent since AB Volvo sold Volvo Cars to Ford Motor Company in 1999. Volvo Cars has been owned since 2010 by the Geely Holding Group, a Chinese multinational automotive manufacturing company. Both AB Volvo and Volvo Cars share the Volvo logo and cooperate in running the Volvo Museum.

The company first listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange in 1935 and it was also listed on other NASDAQ indices from 1985 to June 2007.[2]

Volvo was established in 1915 as a subsidiary of SKF, the ball bearing manufacturer; however the Volvo Group and Volvo Cars consider themselves to have been officially founded on 14 April 1927, when the first car, the Volvo ÖV 4 series, nicknamed as "Jakob", rolled out of the factory in Hisingen, Gothenburg.[3] The building remains (57°42′50″N 11°55′19″E / 57.71389°N 11.92194°E / 57.71389; 11.92194).

History

Early years and international expansion

The first Volvo car that left the assembly line on 14 April 1927.

Volvo means "I roll" in Latin, conjugated from "volvere", in reference to ball bearings. The brand name Volvo was originally registered as a trademark in May 1911 with the intention to be used for a new series of SKF ball bearings. This idea was only used for a short period and SKF decided to simply use "SKF" as the trademark for all its bearing products.[4]

In 1924, Assar Gabrielsson, an SKF sales manager, and a KTH Royal Institute of Technology educated engineer Gustav Larson, the two founders, decided to start construction of a Swedish car. They intended to build cars that could withstand the rigors of the country's rough roads and cold temperatures.[5]

AB Volvo began activities on 10 August 1926. After one year of preparations involving the production of ten prototypes the firm was ready to commence the car-manufacturing business within the SKF group. The Volvo Group itself considers it started in 1927, when the first Volvo car rolled off the production line at the factory in Gothenburg.[6] Only 280 cars were built that year.[7] The first truck, the "Series 1", debuted in January 1928, as an immediate success and attracted attention outside the country.[4] In 1930, Volvo sold 639 cars,[7] and the export of trucks to Europe started soon after; the cars did not become well-known outside Sweden until after World War II.[7] AB Volvo was introduced at the Stockholm Stock Exchange in 1935 and SKF then decided to sell its shares in the company. By 1942, Volvo acquired the Swedish precision engineering company Svenska Flygmotor (later renamed as Volvo Aero).[4]

Pentaverken, who had manufactured engines for Volvo, was acquired in 1935, providing a secure supply of engines and entry into the marine engine market.[8]

The first bus, named B1, was launched in 1934, and aircraft engines were added to the growing range of products at the beginning of the 1940s. In 1963, Volvo opened the Volvo Halifax Assembly plant, the first assembly plant in the company's history outside of Sweden in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

In 1950, Volvo acquired the Swedish construction and agricultural equipment manufacturer Bolinder-Munktell.[9] Bolinder-Munktell was renamed as Volvo BM in 1973[10] and, in 1979, its agricultural equipment business was sold to Valmet.[11] Later, through restructuring and acquisitions, it became Volvo Construction Equipment.[9]

Partnerships and merging attempts

In 1977, Volvo tried to combine operations with rival Swedish automotive group Saab-Scania, but the latter company rejected it.[4] In the 1970s, French manufacturer Renault and Volvo started to collaborate.[12] In 1978, Volvo Car Corporation was spun off as a separate company within the Volvo group[13] and Renault acquired a minority stake,[4] before selling it back in the 1980s after a restructuring.[12] In the 1990s, Renault and Volvo deepened their collaboration and both companies partnered in purchasing, research and development and quality control while increasing their cross-ownership. Renault would assist Volvo with entry-level and medium segment vehicles and in return Volvo would share technology with Renault in upper segments. In 1993, a 1994 Volvo-Renault merger deal was announced. The deal was barely accepted in France, but it was opposed in Sweden, and the Volvo shareholders and company board voted against it.[4][12] The alliance was officially dissolved in February 1994 and Volvo sold off its minority Renault stake in 1997.[4]

In 1991, the Volvo Group participated in a joint venture with Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors at the former DAF plant in Born, Netherlands. The operation, branded NedCar, began producing the first generation Mitsubishi Carisma alongside the Volvo S40/V40 in 1996.[14][15] During the 1990s, Volvo also partnered with the American manufacturer General Motors. In 1999, the European Union blocked a merger with Scania AB.[4]

Refocusing on heavy vehicles

In January 1999, Volvo Group sold Volvo Car Corporation to Ford Motor Company for $6.45 billion. The division was placed within Ford's Premier Automotive Group alongside Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin. Volvo engineering resources and components would be used in various Ford, Land Rover and Aston Martin products, with the second generation Land Rover Freelander designed on the same platform as the second generation Volvo S80. The Volvo T5 petrol engine was used in the Ford Focus ST and RS performance models, and Volvo's satellite navigation system was used on certain Aston Martin Vanquish, DB9 and V8 Vantage models.[16][17][18] In November 1999, Volvo Group purchased a 5% stake in Mitsubishi Motors, as part of a partnership deal for the truck and bus business.[19] In 2001, after DaimlerChrysler bought a large Mitsubishi Motors stake,[20] Volvo sold its shares to the former.[21]

Renault Véhicules Industriels (which included Mack Trucks, but not Renault's stake in Irisbus) was sold to Volvo during January 2001, and Volvo renamed it Renault Trucks in 2002. Renault became AB Volvo's biggest shareholder with a 19.9% stake (in shares and voting rights) as part of the deal.[22] Renault increased its shareholding to 21.7% by 2010.[23]

AB Volvo acquired 13% of the shares in the Japanese truck manufacturer Nissan Diesel from Nissan (part of the Renault-Nissan Alliance) during 2006, becoming a major shareholder. Volvo Group took complete ownership of Nissan Diesel in 2007 to extend its presence in the Asian Pacific market.[5][24]

Renault sold 14.9% of their stake in AB Volvo in October 2010 (comprising 14.9% of the share capital and 3.8% of the voting rights) for €3.02 billion. This share sale left Renault with around 17.5% of Volvo's voting rights.[23] Renault sold their remaining shares in December 2012 (comprising 6.5% of the share capital and 17.2% of the voting rights at the time of transaction) for €1.6 billion, leaving Swedish industrial investment group Aktiebolaget Industrivärden as the largest shareholder, with 6.2% of the share capital and 18.7% of the voting rights.[25][26] That same year, Volvo sold Volvo Aero to the British company GKN.[27]

In December 2013, Volvo sold its Volvo Construction Equipment Rents division to Platinum Equity.[28] In 2014, Volvo's Volvo Construction Equipment acquired the haul truck manufacturing division of Terex Corporation, which included five truck models and a manufacturing facility in Motherwell, Scotland.[29][30][31] In November 2016, Volvo announced its intention of divesting its Government Sales division, made up mainly of Renault Trucks' Renault Trucks Defense but also of Panhard, ACMAT, Mack Defense in the United States, and Volvo Defense.[32]

Business

Volvo Group's operations include:

Trademark

Volvo Trademark Holding AB is equally owned by AB Volvo and Volvo Car Corporation.[33]

The main activity of the company is to own, maintain, protect and preserve the Volvo trademarks (including Volvo, the Volvo device marks (grille slash & iron mark) Volvo Aero and Volvo Penta) on behalf of its owners and to license these rights to its owners. The day-to-day work is focused upon maintaining the global portfolio of trademark registrations and to extend sufficiently the scope of the registered protection for the Volvo trademarks.

The main business is also to act against unauthorised registration and use (including counterfeiting) of trademarks identical or similar to the Volvo trademarks on a global basis.[34]

Brands

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Annual and Sustainability Report 2016" (PDF). Volvo. pp. 1, 8, 80, 84, 85.
  2. ↑ "Volvo to quit Nasdaq". Toronto Star. 14 June 2007. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  3. ↑ "Volvo's founders : Volvo Group – Global". Volvo. 14 April 1927. Retrieved 12 June 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pederson, Jay P. (June 2005). "AB Volvo". International Directory of Company Histories. 67. St. James Press. pp. 378–383. ISBN 978-1-5586-2512-9.
  5. 1 2 "History time-line : Volvo Group – Global". Volvo. Retrieved 12 June 2009.
  6. ↑ Volvo Group Global. "Volvo 80 years". Volvo. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
  7. 1 2 3 Georgano, G. N. Cars: Early and Vintage, 1886–1930. (London: Grange-Universal, 1985) ISBN 9781590844915
  8. ↑ "1930 – History: Volvo Penta". Volvo Penta. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  9. 1 2 Eliasson, G (2013). "Automotive dinamics in regional economies". In Pyka, Andreas; Burghof, Hans-Peter. Innovation and Finance. Routledge. p. 130. ISBN 978-1-135-08491-2.
  10. ↑ "Heccből támasztották fel a Volvo híres traktormárkáját" (in Hungarian). Agrarszektor.hu. 6 January 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  11. ↑ "Zo zou de Volvo BM er nu uit kunnen zien" (in Dutch). Mechaman.nl. 24 October 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  12. 1 2 3 Donnelly, Tom; Donnelly, Tim; Morris, David (2004). "Renault 1985–2000: From bankruptcy to profit" (PDF). Working papers (Caen Innovation Marché Entreprise) (30). OCLC 799704146. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 September 2006.
  13. ↑ Styhre, Alexander (2007). The Innovative Bureaucracy: Bureaucracy in an Age of Fluidity. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-203-96433-0.
  14. ↑ Mitsubishi Motors Corporation Vehicle Manufacturer Strategic Insight, Automotive World (subscription required)
  15. ↑ "Once upon a time..." History, Nedcar.nl website". Nedcar.nl. 2006-05-01. Retrieved 2012-05-16.
  16. ↑ Simister, John (November 2006). "Volvo C30 T5 SE". Evo. Retrieved 29 November 2013. The T5 petrol engine is almost the same as the one borrowed from Volvo by Ford for the Focus ST...
  17. ↑ "ASTON'S CLEARER ADVANTAGE". The Scotsman. 29 November 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2013. The optional satellite navigation remains a Volvo-sourced system that is absurdly fiddly.
  18. ↑ Simister, John (December 2006). "Land Rover Freelander". Evo. Retrieved 29 November 2013. But it's good news for the new 'Freelander 2', based on the S-Max/S80/next-Mondeo platform, powered in the top model by a 229bhp Volvo straight-six
  19. ↑ "Mitsubishi Motors announces alliance with Volvo". The Augusta Chronicle. 10 October 1999. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  20. ↑ Miller, Scott (15 February 2001). "Volvo Might Sell Its Mitsubishi Stake Because of Daimler's Control of Firm". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  21. ↑ "Volvo säljer sitt innehav i Mitsubishi". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). 11 April 2001. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  22. ↑ "AB VOLVO TRANSFER REMAINING SHARES TO RENAULT S.A". Volvo. 9 February 2001. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  23. 1 2 "Renault raises €3bn with part-sale of Volvo stake". The Daily Telegraph. 7 October 2010. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  24. ↑ "Volvo in $1.1bn Nissan purchase". BBC News. BBC. 20 February 2007. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  25. ↑ Pearson, David (12 December 2012). "Renault to Sell Rest of Its Volvo Stake". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  26. ↑ "Industrivärden strengthens its ownership position in Volvo". Industrivärden. 13 December 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  27. ↑ "GKN's shares soar as it buys Volvo's aircraft engine business". The Guardian. 5 July 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  28. ↑ Fuller, Matthew (12 February 2014). "Despite Raising Eyebrows, BlueLine Prices $252M PIK Toggle High Yield Bond Deal". Forbes. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  29. ↑ Latimer, Cole (10 December 2013). "Terex sells trucks arm to Volvo". Australian Mining. Prime Creative Media. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  30. ↑ Miller, Graham (31 December 2013). "Volvo buys Terex plant in Newhouse for $160m". Daily Record. Scottish Daily Record and Sunday Mail. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  31. ↑ "Further job cuts at Terex truck firm in Motherwell". bbc.com. BBC. 16 June 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  32. ↑ Tran, Pierre (4 November 2016). "Volvo Launches RTD Sale, No Timetable". Defense News. Sightline Media Group. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  33. ↑ "Volvo Annual Report 1999". .volvo.com. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
  34. ↑ "The Volvo Brand Name, Volvo Annual Report 1999". .volvo.com. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
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