Great Cars: VOLVO

in Latin Volvo means I rode to most people Volvo means safety its reputation for building sturdy reliable and safe cars has helped it grow from a small local company to one of the world's leading car producers its success stems from a spirit that overcomes obstacle after obstacle to survive in an increasingly competitive world [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] when most car companies unveil a concept car it's usually a styling exercise seldom meant to see the showroom but Volvo's experimental safety concept car is the true glimpse of the company's future packed with features like transparent a pillars for better visibility the collision sensors four-point seatbelts and cameras that give an unobstructed view of the rear as well as monitoring passengers Volvo hopes this car and its current lineup will finally dispel the notion that Volvo's can't be fun or sexy an image it's been battling since it was born in the 1920s when automobiles were introduced they were not intended for the common man they were curious contraptions that only the rich could afford being seen in an automobile was a status symbol it was far from a convenience the Germans had Mercedes the French Persians the Americans had Ford and Cadillac but Swedish drivers had no car that spoke to their national identity two men decided to change that Assad Gabriel Olsen and Gustav Lawson met while working at the Swedish ball-bearing company SKF in 1924 Gabe Wilson was an engineer who had experience working for the British car industry Lawson was the head of sales at SKF from the beginning they were determined to do things differently one thing they wanted to change was quality control rather than put together cars on an assembly line from parts ordered through a large network of suppliers Lawson and Gabe Nelson had a revolutionary idea their plan was to design all the parts themselves then carefully monitor the manufacturing holding suppliers to a strict set of standards to get backing from SKF the pair built a rugged looking open top to prototype SKF agreed to finance the operations and production began in 1927 at the ball-bearing company a B Volvo near Gothenburg [Music] the two engineers hoped their ovie for a conventional open-topped four-cylinder car would be a hit they chose the symbol of the Roman god volcan god of iron and steel for their first car because it advertised that it was built from strong Swedish steel it was a capable car but producing a convertible in Sweden seemed to be an impractical choice by the summer of that year a closed body version of the car had been added to the line-up certainly more practical but it was boxy and technically out-of-date the only thing different that he'd offered Swedish buyers was that it was built in Sweden sales were low and the profit margin slim on each car this was due to the high level of quality that company required its suppliers to deliver it was an increasingly risky business venture SKF was becoming disenchanted with Volvo they entertained an offer from the American national a desperate Assad Gabrielsson brokered a deal with SKF to keep them from selling the company he promised that Volvo would be profitable in under a year SKF agreed and he delivered Volvo's rescue relied on supplying a lucrative market for trucks and buses not selling cars it turned out trucks while the engineers worked on improving the ovie force they beefed up the power by adding a six cylinder engine and took the cars out to compete in the 1928 Swedish winter rally they won victory created enthusiasm for the cars but they needed to do more the company's philosophy was to only make changes for the sake of improvements not for the sake of change this practical approach has served them well if they wanted to expand in the passenger car arena they had to upgrade their styling the 1933 World's Fair was a celebration of the future of industrial design many international automakers show their product visions to the millions of people who attended Volga engineers were taken with the car that Chrysler introduced the airflow it clearly was inspired by the international move toward streamlining the company hired an American trained engineer and asked him to create something revolutionary for them while he worked on the new Volvo it is becoming clear that the airflow wasn't a success people didn't respond to its futuristic styling it was a failure undaunted Volvo pushed ahead with a Carioca it too bombed but its chassis laid the groundwork for Volvo's first mass-produced car the pv 51 while the company was basking in its good fortune the world was thrown into war Germany invaded Poland in the fall of 1939 and Volvo feared that the European conflagration would spread to Sweden the rapid series of German blitzkrieg across Europe was alarming Volvo officials thought its prospects for continuing to produce vehicles were bleak but they hadn't counted on the needs of the Swedish defense forces the insatiable demand of the military made the Warriors extremely profitable for the company the Volvo turned out a high volume of military vehicles including tanks and all-terrain trucks its production was guided by the need to produce functional durable and extremely mobile vehicles these were Volvo traits but as the war wound down it was clear the public would soon be looking for new cars in the fall of 1944 Volvo held a show at the Royal Tennis Hall in Stockholm to exhibit its entire range of products most of the interest centered on its new car the pv 444 1 car was given away every day this caused the exhibition to be jammed with nearly a hundred and fifty thousand visitors who wanted to see or win the new car its many safety innovations included laminated safety glass and other unique features like a padded dash and Sun Visor it also had what was called a safety body the concept was to create crush zones that would absorb the impact of a crash and protect the occupants even in a rollover accident it was hoped that the PB 444 would become the Swedish people's car like the box wagon in Germany the Citroen 2cv in France or Morris Minor in Britain it would be simple functional and affordable but Volvo's main suppliers of steel and sheet metal in Eastern Europe Poland Hungary and Czechoslovakia were now behind the Iron Curtain Germany was divided into the Saar coal and steel industry was in ruins and would take years to re-establish all this delayed the pp 444 s launch while Europe's factories were being rebuilt Volvo used its scant resources for aviation engines trucks buses and tractors eventually the steel mills started production again and the PV triple four could be officially launched in 1947 nearly two and a half years after its prototype was shown Volvo management was finally able to meet the growing demand for its innovative new car the hunger for these cars pent up during five years of war were so high in Scandinavia that some purchases had happily waited two years to take delivery more than ten thousand had been sold before production began Volvo engineers had used the delay to refine the design copying many of the latest American interior touches for the first time in the company's history car production outstripped truck manufacturing this car and its follower the PV 544 established Volvo's reputation for building rugged cars at last this success finally assured Volvo a spot in the lucrative foreign car market in 1955 the first Volvo cars were exported to the United States but it needed a cosmetic overhaul to sell by 1957 the model was offered with features not available in Sweden some had fancy exhaust pipes special color schemes an exterior Sun Visor and a driver side spotlight Volvo made fifty seven thousand cars that year half sold abroad and ten thousand sold in the US Volvo was soon the number-two import in California the cars were particularly popular with people who were turned off by the American industries seeming inability to build cars that lasted more than three to five years an independent study done in the 1960s which show Volvo's lasted an average of 13 and a half years in 1956 as the company attained its long hoped for success Assad Gabrielson retired as president he made sure something was in the works that would keep things moving ahead the Amazon 120 series it had a new look and featured something that would change the automotive world three-point front safety belts a standard equipment invented by Volvo engineer Niles Boland the three-point safety belts is considered to be one of the most important life-saving innovations in automotive history Volvo took safety and lessening the damage suffered in a crash seriously American car bill is believed that safety didn't sell during the 1960's in the United States consumer advocate Ralph Nader launched a series of campaigns against American car makers charging that they ignored safety Volvo's began to look better and better to an American public becoming increasingly concerned about safety volver had sold more than 50,000 sedans in the u.s. it was now its biggest market the cars were seen all around the world as being better built safer and designed to last longer it all began in the factory each part is examined thoroughly all components must have the same high quality and they are tested in many ways before final assembly is carried out okay for this part of the inspection Volvo continued to grow throughout the 1960s under the leadership of president guna angle or who made sure that the company's rigorous standards were maintained as sales climbed Volvo began playing with the idea of building a sports car it had tried once before and failed but Angelo believed it was time to try again a successful sports car would help it grow overseas a Volvo looked at stylists from the big Italian firms Vinnie Ali and gear but settled on a concept by a young boat designer who happened to be the son of one of its executives Jaguar in England was making a splash with its new XKE and Volvo hoped its new car would appeal to the same of scale buyers the Volvo didn't have the capacity to build its proposed low slung car so it's settled on a company in Scotland to assemble them the P 1800 was well-received for its elegant design but got mild reviews for performance it received an unexpected publicity boost when it was chosen over Jaguar by a new television series the Saint for its star Raja more to drive more fell in love with a car when he was shown a picture my old motoring heart skipped a beat he said like all Volvo's they proved to be durable this one has been driven over 1 million miles while the Amazon was selling well by 1967 it was time to introduce a new model the 140 series of sedans over six hundred and sixty seven thousand Amazon's have been made when the last one rolled out in 1970 [Music] Volvo's concern for automotive safety have begun to be shared in the United States all car makers were required to develop systems to improve crash survivability lawmakers in the u.s. enacted legislation and regulations that directed the manufacturers to change Volvo was ready it's new 140 series had even more safety features than the Amazons [Applause] [Music] Bobo's 140 came with rear-facing child seats collapsible steering columns and side collision protection while the engineers worked on enhanced safety features they also were developing the replacement for the 140 the 240 of course the 240 incorporated many new safety features like improved handling and a fuel tank that was better protected many thought it's modern 2.7 liter v6 capable of meeting increasingly strict environmental standards was its most important new feature Volvo pinned its hopes on the 240 to be its main revenue earner however a weak world economy in the 1970s worries about over capacity in the car industry and increased competition cost of all go to look for a partner in 1977 Sweden's other major auto manufacturer saab-scania were seen as a good fit the two companies hope to save money by combining but the deal fell through Volvo's president per-gallon hammer set to work on pushing Volvo into the upper brackets to compete with BMW and Mercedes with its new 700 series he realized safety had to be combined with style [Music] that didn't mean that Volvo had turned its back on safety it forced ahead with its unique accident investigation team this group investigates thousands of accidents each year going to the scene reviewing damage claims and interviewing people to discover how to help the engineers build safer vehicles in 1990 Volvo suffered its first operating loss in 61 years declining sales falling exchange rates and an anxious workforce created a gloomy atmosphere but development and testing continued on the new 850 its first front-wheel drive car front-wheel-drive was considered to be ideal for Sweden's snowbound often icy roads the new 850 also featured better rear suspension and a double overhead camshaft engine that was available with a turbocharger in some markets it was the fastest and sportiest Volvo ever built but the uncertainties of the international auto business prompted Volvo to enter into discussion with Renault these talks also collapsed but company officials realized that they were too small to carry the car making operation on their own they redoubled their efforts to find a strong partner to help them remain competitive after much speculation about who would buy the oldest automobile company in the country for stepped in and acquired Volvo in 1999 Ford's president Jack NASA put up more than 6.5 billion dollars for the car company regarded as the safest in the world Ford was eager to help Volvo shared its stodgy image while maintaining a reputation for quality and safety the v70 delivered its top class environmental and safety features pleased die-hard Volvo drivers while its styling and performance cast a wider net Volvo continued its reach into a growing youthful market that hungered for sporty but reliable vehicles with the new s60 and the s60 are these cars brought an entirely new kind of buyer into the showrooms they could serve a young family as well as delivering a high performance driving experience one thing were still lacking a sport utility vehicle or SUV in the late 1990s the market for SUVs was booming but there were also some drawbacks especially for a company like Volvo that prided itself on being perceived as the company that cared [Music] they wanted a car that was environmentally friendly and safe building on the SAT chassis Volvo worked to ensure that its new SUV the xc90 had only marginally higher fuel consumption and emissions than the rest of its cars the true test and the most important standard for it was safety in 2000 the Volvo Safety Center opened this 81 million dollar leading-edge testing facility took the company's obsession with safety seriously Volvo reasoned that its reputation for safety could be destroyed if it didn't do things differently they worked on passenger safety and ways to minimize the damage done to other vehicles in a collision corners were rounded the hood was designed to reduce impact and the bumpers were produced to work with a smaller cars of safety system the xc90 hit the streets and won the Motor Trend SUV of the Year award Volvo had created a sport utility vehicle that appealed to its buyers while the xc90 was a hit Volvo couldn't ignore its flagship sedan the SAT a new version was released in 2004 that the company hoped would show that it new safety wasn't enough increased competition from Lexus howdy Mercedes BMW and Acura had chipped away at the sales of its sedans from 30,000 sales a year in the u.s. in 1999 it was down to about 16,000 the company hoped that its new range of enhanced two sedans with added elegance luxuries and performance would appeal to a fluent buyers driving the SAT revealed that Volvo had succeeded in creating a capable car that had reassuring handling it didn't have the stunning performance of an N Series BMW but it was lively responsive and sure-footed all reason was that over 88 percent of their Satie's owners would recommend one to a friend Volvo has come a long way since the evening of July 25th 1924 when acid Gabrielson and Gustav Lawson decided to launch the company while it's grown and changed the founders would be happy to know that their philosophy to build safe high-quality vehicles has endured Volvo's future is guided by the principles of its past [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: King Rose Archives

Views: 245,772

Rating: 4.8971643 out of 5

Keywords: Volvo, auto safety, rally, Gunnar Anderson, Erik Carlsson, The Saint, P1800, Seat belts, Swedish cars

Id: oqKfSudL7H8

Length: 25min 7sec (1507 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 25 2017