Four new models saw the light of day in 2000: the brand-new Volvo S60, a compact medium-sized sedan, the revised and improved Volvo V70 and V70 Cross Country models (V70 XC), and the new versions of the Volvo S40 and V40.

1990 -Launch of luxury Volvo 960 and Volvo 940. Volvo and Renault conclude alliance with view to eventual merger. 1991 - Volvo 850 - the company's safest and most advanced model so far - is launched and becomes a world success. 1992 - Asbestos was eliminated from car production. 1993 - Production of Volvo 240 ceases after 19 years and over 2.8 million cars. Collapse of proposed merger with Renault. 1994 - SIPS, Side impact protection system - (side-impact airbags) was launched. 1995 - Volvo S40 and V40 - from Volvo's Dutch plant NedCar in Born were launched. 1996 -Volvo C70 Coupé was launched - built in the Uddevalla plant. Volvo 850 updated and renamed Volvo S70/V70. 1997 - Launch of Volvo V70 XC and C70 Convertible. 1998 - The sedan Volvo S80 becomes first model in large-car range to be based on global shared technologies. 1999 - Volvo Cars was bought from AB Volvo by Ford Motor Company (FMC) in March.

1980 - the first turbocharged Volvo car - the Volvo 240 Turbo. Volvo Concept Car (VCC) to test the technical solutions in the fields of energy and the environment. 1981 - the one-millionth Volvo bound for North America left the assembly line. This jubilee car was a silver 240 estate. 1982 - Volvo unveiled the Volvo 760. 1983 - Volvo presented a project for the future - the LCP 2000 (Light Component Project). 1984 - new addition to the 700 Series, the Volvo 740. 1985 - Volvo 780, Volvo 480 ES, Volvo 740/760 Estates. 1986 - an environmental success wthen engines with catalytic converters and the Lambda Sond were introduced. 1987 - A microprocessor-controlled climate unit known as ECC (Electronic Climate Control) was introduced. 1988 - The Volvo 440 was introduced. 1989 - The Experimental Safety Vehicle Conference was held in Gothenburg for the first time. Volvo's contribution, which included side-collision protection and a child booster cushion integrated into the rear seat of the car.

1970 - The Volvo Amazon (P120) was phased out. During the year Volvo passed the 2 million car production mark. 1971 - The most powerful standard car Volvo had ever produced was presented - the Volvo 164 E. And 1800 ES was presented. 1972 - Volvo presented a safety vehicle - the VESC, Volvo Experimental Safety Car. 1973 - The US became Volvo's largest market ahead of Sweden.Volvo Technical Centre (VTC) new opportunities for experiments and tests. 1974 - A new generation of Volvo cars was presented: the Volvo 240 with six different models and the Volvo 260 with two models. 1975 - Two new cars were presented: the Volvo 265 and the Volvo 66. The 265 was an exclusive estate with a 6-cylinder engine and excellent comfort. 1976 - The US traffic safety administration (NHTSA) purchased a number of Volvo 240s, which were used to set the safety standards against which all new cars on the US market were tested. The Volvo 343 from Holland made its appearance. 1977 - Volvo celebrated its 50th anniv

1960 - Volvo presented an entirely new vehicle - a sports car. The P1800 was presented - A revolution. 1961 - In October the Amazon 121 was released. On April 24th 1964 the new Torslanda Plant was opened. Another assembly plant was opened in Ghent in Belgium in 1965. Volvo 144 was introduced in 1966 and next year was the 145 Estate introduced . 1998 came the Volvo 164, a prestige version.

1950 - B Series of the PV444 was introduced. - 1951 - The B model of the PV444 was replaced by the C model. 1952 - In January the 25,000th PV444 left the Volvo plant on Hisingen. 1953 - The first Volvo Duett was introduced in the summer. 1954 - the Volvo Sport were introduced - 1955 - of the Volvo Sport ceased after only one year. 1956 - The big news this year was the Volvo 120, known in Scandinavia as the Amazon. 1957 - The top half of the dashboard was "padded". Safety belt anchorage points on the front seats were standard. 1958 - The windscreen on the PV544 was larger, it was not split and was slightly convex. 1959 - Volvo was the first car manufacturer in the world to equip its cars with three point safety belts as a standard fitting.

1940 - The decline in sales was compensated to some extent by a new area of operations within Swedish defence. . 1941 - The successor to the PV53-56 was to have been the PV60, a larger car in the American style. Deliveries, which were due to begin in May 1940, had to be postponed. Even so, Volvo built a number of prototypes in which the bodywork was developed in different ways. 1942 -Volvo purchased Köpings Mekaniska Verkstad AB, which had supplied the company with gears and gearboxes since the start. 1943 - PV444, was due to be introduced in the autumn of 1944. 1944 - introduction of PV444 - the people's choice. 1945 - fortunately the war ended. But a long strike began. 1946 - The production of the PV60 began on a modest scale. 1947 - Ten PV444s was built to check that the production process functioned. 1948 - Almost 3,000 cars were produced. 1949 - 12,700 PV444S were produced.

1930 - Volvo bought its engine supplier, Pentaverken in Skövde. A new passenger car PV652 was introduced. 1931 - two new taxis the TR673 and TR674. 1932 - fuel consumption lowered, the free-wheel was introduced. 1933 - the new PV653 (standard) and PV654 (de Luxe) models were presented. 1934 - a new series of 7-seater taxis. 1935 - the big news was the PV36, "the streamlined car". 1936 - the PV51 was introduced. 1937 - introduction of the PV52, which was better equipped than the PV51. 1938 - The new models this year were the PV53 and the PV54 standard versions and the PV55 and PV56 de Luxe versions. 1939 - with the onstart of the Second World War fuel consumption was a main task for Volvo. Production of producer-gas units started by the spring.

I roll...

but 85 years later

Few car companies can claim the same pedigree as Volvo Cars when it comes to the design and manufacture of family estates. That is why the news that Volvo will reveal its new V90 estate on February 18 in Stockholm is so widely anticipated and significant.

The Volvo 480 ES was the first front-wheel-drive car with a transverse engine produced by Volvo. It's now been 30 years since this wedge-shaped car made its official premiere at the Geneva Motor Show.