The same Volvo in the same place 85 years on

Apr 21 2012

On the 14th of April 1927, the very first mass-manufactured Volvo auto came off the production line at the Lundby factory near Gˆteborg.  In 2012, 85 years later, the Volvo Group has become one of the biggest international manufacturers of commercial vehicles and Volvo Car Corporation produces nearly 500,000 cars every year.

At 10 o'clock on the morning of the 14th of April 1927 Hilmer Johansson, the company's Sales Manager, drove the very first mass-manufactured Volvo OV4 model out of the factory gates in Lundby.

On the 14th of April 2012, 85 years later, the same car passed through precisely the same entrance to commemorate Volvo's birthday.  Behind the wheel were President and CEO of Volvo Car Corporation, Stefan Jacoby, and President and CEO of the Volvo Group, Olof Persson.

Stefan Jacoby, who not too long ago introduced the new Volvo V40 at the Geneva Motor Show, said: ìIt's a fantastic car, but it's easy to see how much has changed over the last 85 years.î

Volvo Car Corporation and the Volvo Group are two corporations that share a long history.  However, what was at that time a single company started out as a very unpromising venture, since Volvo's founding fathers Gustaf Larson and Assar Gabrielsson had no direct knowledge of cars or the automobile industry.

During its first year of production, Volvo produced a modest 300 cars.  However, the year after that business seriously started to take off when the company also began producing trucks and buses.  Even back then Volvo realised that the secret to success lay in the export market.
 

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