Third Generation XC from Volvo with World's First Height Adjustable Integrated Booster Cushion
Volvo Cars of North America
Third Generation XC from Volvo with World's First Height Adjustable Integrated Booster Cushion
New York, NY - April 4, 2007. When the first XC model from Swedish auto marquee - Volvo Cars - took to the American roads in 1997, sales success and an entirely new Cross Country segment soon followed.
Ten years later, the third generation XC70 rolls into the spotlight at the Geneva Motor Show. The original recipe is still intact, but now Volvo's crossover vehicle has added luxury as well as even greater capabilities for adventure.
The original XC exceeded Volvo Cars' sales expectations largely based on the vehicle's appeal to consumers in the United States. For them, the Volvo XC70 served the functionality of an SUV, while providing the distinctive Volvo feel of a true premium car. The term "crossover" emerged.
The Volvo XC70 badge has retained its power of attraction since introduction; with the current generation reaching peak sales over 24,000 in the U.S. (the best sales year globally topped 40,000). "We had a winning concept from the very outset and we have continuously refined it. The all-new XC70 maintains its tough, capable attitude while at the same time growing more comfortable," says Fredrik Arp, president and CEO, Volvo Car Corporation. "Additionally, our design team has given the vehicle a more elegant, more luxurious look."
"We developed the all-new Volvo XC70 with the goal that it should be the safest vehicle in its segment," says Ingrid Skogsmo, Director Volvo Cars Safety Center. "The XC70 model shares the same sophisticated network of interacting safety systems as the all-new Volvo S80.The patented body structure absorbs energy in a highly efficient way. And the interior safety system includes the latest generation of side airbags and whiplash protection. Furthermore, we are introducing a world innovation in the field of child safety."
In a true demonstration of versatility of the family/adventure all-new XC70, Volvo combines a height-adjustable integrated booster cushion - a world's first, with an extended inflatable curtain to provide the industry's very best passenger safety for precious cargo in the rear seat.
Volvo - Grattis på födelsedagen! *
1927-2007 - 80 years with Volvo Cars
Volvo cars have been driving on roads around the world for 80 years. The company's history and its beginnings have been documented in innumerable ways over the years. First and foremost has been and always will be safety. Volvo's first car rolled out of Hisingen in Gothenburg, Sweden on April 14, 1927.
1927
On 14 April, a factory gate opens on the island of Hisingen in Göteborg and out rolls the very first series-produced Volvo car. Its model name is ÖV4, the Swedish abbreviation for Open Car, 4 cylinders. Its price is set at 4800 kronor and the covered version which is launched soon after under the PV4 model name costs an additional 1000 kronor. The aim is to build 500 cars in each series, but the public turns out to be particularly difficult to win over and just 297 cars are sold that first year. At the helm of the young company - and staying with their hands on the tiller all the way to the mid-fifties - are the company's two founders Assar Gabrielsson, President, and Gustaf Larson, director of engineering.
"Today, we build as many Volvo cars in three hours as we did during the entire year in 1927. We've racked up almost 15 million cars since we started operations that April day all those decades ago. We've brought together enormous banks of know-how, skill and experience within our ranks during the 80 years that have gone by, and every year we take yet another major step forward. Our 2007 models are the most exciting Volvo cars we've ever revealed, and many more are on the way. What they all share is that they all point the way ahead towards a more youthful Volvo. Because the older Volvo gets, the younger and livelier our models become," says Fredrik Arp, President and CEO, Volvo Car Corporation.
*Swedish: Happy Birthday Volvo!