Volvo Cars celebrates 99 years on the road

It’s an early April morning in 1927. In our hometown of Gothenburg on Sweden’s west coast, the sun has only been up for an hour or so.

A day that is everything but normal is just about to begin. A few seconds later, for the first time in history, a mass-produced Volvo drives out through the factory gates, and the cheering of plant workers and office staff fills the air.

It’s the moment they’ve all been waiting for. No wonder they’re excited – they’ve just witnessed the world's first Volvo hit the road!

No one in the crowd that day could have dreamed of what our company would become. Now, we’re celebrating our 99th anniversary, and since that unforgettable April morning in 1927, we’ve presented everything from sporty models and popular family cars to innovative SUVs and versatile estate cars.

In all cases, we’ve delivered signature design, pioneering features, cutting-edge safety features and pure driving pleasure. From the beginning, we’ve been a brand for people who care about the world we live in and the people around us. We have made it our mission to make life easier, better and safer for everyone.

Memorable milestones

With just one year to go before reaching the big 100, it’s probably better to save the full-on nostalgia kick for when we hit that century. But since it’s our birthday, we can allow ourselves to let the waves of nostalgia lap our feet just a little bit.

In the 1940s, the PV 444 – also known as “the little Volvo” – helped introduce our company to a wider world and was seen in Sweden as a promise of post-war prosperity. A decade later, the Duett arrived with a simple but powerful idea: one car that could adapt to both work and leisure. It was the first in a long line of estates that have made Volvo synonymous with this type of practical car. Since then, more than 6 million Volvo estates have been made.

One of our most important safety innovations is the three-point safety belt, developed by Nils Bohlin and introduced as standard in our cars in 1959. We made the IP available for free to other manufacturers, and since then, we estimate it to have saved more than one million lives.

In 1974, we launched the 260 and the 240 and sold more than 2.8 million of them over the next 19 years. The 240, affectionately known as “the brick” due to its angular design, had a great safety reputation thanks to crumple zones and large bumpers.

Our international reputation for advanced safety was confirmed when the US Government bought 24 cars of the 240 model for extensive crash testing. As a result of the tests, Volvo was officially chosen at the time as the benchmark to set safety standards for all new cars.

Launched in 2002, the XC90 was our first SUV, combining luxury, safety and cutting-edge technology. It was an instant success all over the world, redefined the segment for big SUVs and became Sweden’s most important export product within a few years. And 24 years later, we continue building on that legacy with the launch of our game-changing fully electric SUV – the EX60.

Our heritage remains a guide. The same principles that shaped our previous cars – care for people, respect for the world around us, and belief in thoughtful progress – still influence what we build today and what we can dream up next.