When Swedish company Svenksa Kullagerfabriken (SKF) registered the name 'Volvo' on 22 June, 1915, it seemed entirely appropriate. After all, Volvo means 'I roll' in Latin, and SKF produced ball bearings. Little did the company know then that the name would become synonymous with safety and style as the nameplate of one of the world's leading car companies.
But it took eleven years from the Volvo name being registered before it appeared on a car. In 1926, SKF employee Assar Gabrielssona and his friend Gustaf Larson, an engineer who had worked for Morris in England, persuaded the SKF board to produce a Swedish car. And in 1927, the ÖV 4 - nicknamed Jakob - appeared bearing the Volvo name.
The name has been used ever since, along with the logo that was adopted at the same time - the diagonal band and iron symbol, chosen for its association with strength and the Swedish iron industry.
Gabrielsson and Larson had a special attitude towards the cars they produced. "Cars are driven by people; therefore the fundamental principle on which our designs are based must always be safety," they said.
That's a mantra that Volvo still embraces today, even though the company is very different. From its humble beginnings in a corner of the SKF factory, Volvo has become a globally respected brand that has produced around 13.5 million cars during its 78 year life.
That an estimated eight million of those 13.5 million Volvos are still on the road today is testament to how they've remained true to Gabrielsson and Larson's principles. Here's to another 90 years of rolling.
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