The Volvo Group is a Swedish supplier of commercial vehicles such as trucks, buses and construction equipment, drive systems for marine and industrial applications, aerospace components and financial services. Although Volvo was incorporated in 1915 as a subsidiary of AB SKF, a Swedish ball bearing manufacturer, the auto manufacturer was officially founded on 14 April 1927, when the first car rolled out of the factory in Hisingen, Gothenburg.

Volvo means "I roll" in Latin, conjugated from "volvere" (cp the ball bearing producer SKF). The name Volvo was originally registered in May 1911 as a separate company within SKF AB and as a registered trademark with the intention to be used for a special series of ball bearing, but this idea was only used for a short period of time and SKF decided to use "SKF" as the trademark for all its bearing products.

In 1924, Assar Gabrielsson, a SKF Sales Manager, and Engineer Gustav Larson, the two founders, decided to start construction of a Swedish car. Their vision was to build cars that can withstand the rigors of Sweden's rough roads and cold temperatures. This becomes a feature of Volvo products ever since.

The company AB Volvo had no activities until 10 August 1926, after one year of preparations involving the production of ten prototypes, was set up to carry out the car-manufacturing business within the SKF group. Volvo AB was introduced at the Stockholm stock exchange in 1935 and SKF then decided to sell its shares in the company. Volvo was delisted from NASDAQ in June 2007, but remains listed on the Stockholm exchange.

The first series produced Volvo automobile, the Volvo ÖV 4, left the factory on 14 April 1927 which became the official date for the founding of Volvo.

In 1999 Volvo sold its car division Volvo Cars to Ford for $6.45 billion. Repeated reports in the media about Ford selling off Volvo Cars have been refuted by the company. However, on 1 December 2008, Ford announced that it will "re-evaluate its strategic options for Volvo", including the possible sale of the marque.

History

The Volvo Group has its origin in 1927 when the first Volvo car rolled off the production line at the factory in Göteborg. Only 297 cars were built that year.Georgano, G. N. Cars: Early and Vintage, 1886–1930. (London: Grange-Universal, 1985) The first truck, the "Series 1", debuted in January 1928, was an immediate success and attracted attention outside the country. In 1930, Volvo sold 639 cars, and the export of trucks to Europe started soon after; the cars did not become well-known outside Sweden until after World War II.

Marine engines have been part of the Group almost as long as trucks. Pentaverken, founded in 1907, was acquired in 1935. As early as 1929, however, the U-21 outboard engine was introduced. Manufacturing continued until 1962.