Editing Volvo (section)

===Early years and international expansion===
[[File:Volvo ÖV4 1927.jpg|thumb|The first Volvo car, a [[Volvo ÖV 4]], left the assembly line on 14 April 1927.]]
The brand name ''Volvo'' was originally registered as a trademark in May 1911, with the intention to be used for a new series of [[SKF]] [[ball bearings]]. It means "I roll" in [[Latin]], conjugated from "volvere". The idea was short-lived, and SKF decided to simply use its initials as the trademark for all its bearing products.<ref name="B2">{{cite book |last=Pederson |first=Jay P. |chapter=AB Volvo |title=International Directory of Company Histories |volume=67 |date=June 2005 |publisher=St. James Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/internationaldir0000unse_r9u7/page/378 378–383] |isbn=978-1-5586-2512-9 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/internationaldir0000unse_r9u7/page/378 }}</ref>

In 1924, [[Assar Gabrielsson]], an SKF sales manager, and [[Gustav Larson]], a [[KTH Royal Institute of Technology|KTH]] educated engineer, decided to start construction of a Swedish car. They intended to build cars that could withstand the rigours of the country's rough roads and cold temperatures.<ref name="volvo.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.volvogroup.com/GROUP/GLOBAL/EN-GB/VOLVO%20GROUP/HISTORY/OURHISTORY/PAGES/HISTORY_TIMELINE.ASPX |title=History time-line : Volvo Group – Global |publisher=Volvo |access-date=12 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110620234834/http://www.volvogroup.com/GROUP/GLOBAL/EN-GB/VOLVO%20GROUP/HISTORY/OURHISTORY/PAGES/HISTORY_TIMELINE.ASPX |archive-date=20 June 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

AB Volvo began activities on 10 August 1926. After one year of preparations involving the production of ten prototypes, the firm was ready to commence the car-manufacturing business within the SKF group. The Volvo Group itself considers it started in 1927, when the first car, a [[Volvo ÖV 4]], rolled off the production line at the factory in [[Hisingen]], Gothenburg.<ref>{{cite web |author=Volvo Group Global |url=http://www.volvo.com/group/global/en-gb/Volvo+Group/history/history.htm |title=Volvo 80 years |publisher=Volvo |access-date=6 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091022223128/http://www.volvo.com/group/global/en-gb/volvo+group/history/history.htm |archive-date=22 October 2009 |url-status=live  }}</ref> Only 280 cars were built that year.<ref name=georgano>[[Georgano, G. N.]] ''Cars: Early and Vintage, 1886–1930''. (London: Grange-Universal, 1985) {{ISBN|9781590844915}}</ref> The first truck, the "Series 1", debuted in January 1928, as an immediate success and attracted attention outside the country.<ref name="B2"/> In 1930, Volvo sold 639 cars,<ref name=georgano/> and the export of trucks to Europe started soon after; the cars did not become well known outside Sweden until after [[World War II]].<ref name=georgano/> AB Volvo was introduced at the [[Stockholm Stock Exchange]] in 1935 and SKF then decided to sell its shares in the company. By 1942, Volvo acquired the Swedish precision engineering company [[Volvo Aero|Svenska Flygmotor]] (later renamed as Volvo Aero).<ref name="B2"/>

Pentaverken, which had manufactured engines for Volvo, was acquired in 1935, providing a secure supply of engines and entry into the marine engine market.<ref name="PentaHistory">{{cite web | url = http://www.volvopenta.com/VOLVOPENTA/GLOBAL/EN-GB/OUR_COMPANY/HISTORY/Pages/1930.aspx | title = 1930 – History: Volvo Penta | access-date = 28 November 2013 | publisher = Volvo Penta | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131203021457/http://www.volvopenta.com/VOLVOPENTA/GLOBAL/EN-GB/OUR_COMPANY/HISTORY/Pages/1930.aspx | archive-date = 3 December 2013 | url-status = dead | df = dmy-all }}</ref>

The first bus, named B1, was launched in 1934, and aircraft engines were added to the growing range of products at the beginning of the 1940s. Volvo was also responsible for producing the [[Stridsvagn m/42]]. In 1963, Volvo opened the [[Volvo Halifax Assembly]] plant, the first assembly plant in the company's history outside of Sweden in [[City of Halifax|Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada]].

In 1950, Volvo acquired the Swedish [[Construction equipment|construction]] and [[agricultural equipment]] manufacturer [[Bolinder-Munktell]].<ref name=WG>{{cite book |editor1-last=Pyka |editor1-first=Andreas |editor2-last=Burghof |editor2-first=Hans-Peter |title=Innovation and Finance |chapter=Automotive dinamics in regional economies |last=Eliasson |first=G |page=130 |year=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-08491-2 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3WodAAAAQBAJ&q=Bolinder-Munktell+Volvo+CE&pg=PA130 |access-date=21 October 2020 |archive-date=6 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406043916/https://books.google.com/books?id=3WodAAAAQBAJ&q=Bolinder-Munktell+Volvo+CE&pg=PA130 |url-status=live }}</ref> Bolinder-Munktell was renamed as Volvo BM in 1973.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.agrarszektor.hu/gepek/heccbol_tamasztottak_fel_a_volvo_hires_traktormarkajat.6744.html |title=Heccből támasztották fel a Volvo híres traktormárkáját |publisher=Agrarszektor.hu |language=hu |date=6 January 2017 |access-date=14 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107161018/http://www.agrarszektor.hu/gepek/heccbol_tamasztottak_fel_a_volvo_hires_traktormarkajat.6744.html |archive-date=7 January 2017 |url-status=live  }}</ref> In 1979, Volvo BM's agricultural equipment business was sold to [[Valtra|Valmet]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mechaman.nl/landbouwmechanisatie/2016/10/24/zo-zou-de-volvo-bm-er-nu-uit-kunnen-zien/ |title=Zo zou de Volvo BM er nu uit kunnen zien |publisher=Mechaman.nl |language=nl |date=24 October 2016 |access-date=15 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020163021/https://www.mechaman.nl/landbouwmechanisatie/2016/10/24/zo-zou-de-volvo-bm-er-nu-uit-kunnen-zien/ |archive-date=20 October 2017 |url-status=live  }}</ref> Later, through restructuring and acquisitions, the remaining construction equipment business became [[Volvo Construction Equipment]].<ref name=WG/>

In the 1970s, Volvo started to move away from car manufacturing to concentrate more on heavy commercial vehicles. The car division focused on models aimed at upper middle-class customers to improve its profitability.<ref name=diver/>