Volvo was established in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1927 as a subsidiary of SKF, a company that produces maintenance products. Volvo produced cars for the European market for nearly two decades before the company decided to start moving toward entering the more profitable American market in 1944, and finally, in 1956, it began exporting cars to the US. Ever since then, North America has been one of Volvo's biggest markets.

Volvo opened its first non-Swedish assembly plant in Nova Scotia in 1963 and continued to open plants in other countries over the next several years, though it didn't build a plant in the United States until 2015, despite being bought by Ford in 1999. The Volvo Group, which previous owned Volvo Cars, decided to sell its car division and focused on commercial vehicles, so Ford jumped at the chance to take over.

During the late-2000s automotive industry downturn, Ford sold most of its Premier Auto Group brands, including Aston Martin and Jaguar Land Rover. In 2009 Ford sold Volvo Cars to Geely Holding Group, which has owned it ever since.

Volvo has long been known as an innovator when it comes to safety technology, integrating new safety systems years before they really hit the rest of the market. For instance, Volvo vehicles were available with Lane Keeping Aid and Cross Traffic Alert in 2012, while these are only becoming prevalent in the rest of the auto industry in the last couple of model years.

Today, Volvo continues to innovate and develop new vehicles, including two new large cars, a sedan and station wagon, which are scheduled to be introduced with the 2017 model year. Volvo offers a range of vehicle types from sedans and wagons to SUVs, and its focus is currently on improving efficiency and safety as always. Recently named one of the world's most sustainable companies by the DJSI, Volvo is sure to continue developing new and unique strategies surrounding these issues for years to come.

Want to learn more about Volvo history? Stop by Dick Dyer Volvo in Columbia, SC!
 

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