The VOLVO brand has been resounding around the world for ninety years, and will continue to move forward in the years to come. The name first appeared on ball bearings ninety years ago in June. On June 22, 1915, VOLVO was officially registered. Since then, it has been imprinted on new balls and rollers produced by SKF specifically for the automotive industry.
A year before this, SKF had realized the huge market potential that the automobile manufacturing industry brought to bearing manufacturers, and thus set out to establish a subsidiary specifically to provide parts for automobile manufacturers. . At that time, due to the unique spherical bearing invented by its founder Sven Wingquist, SKF was already world-renowned and became a famous developer and manufacturer of industrial bearings.
The name VOLVO (all in capital letters) was thought up by some quick-thinking members of the company's management who were good at words and languages. The registration application was submitted by SKF through AB Del in Stockholm. The patent was submitted to the Swedish Royal Patent Registration Office on February 20, 1915. In Latin, "Volvere" is the infinitive of the verb "roll". For example, a pistol with a revolver is called a "revolver." In the first person singular form, the verb "volvere" becomes "volvo", and "I roll" means "I move forward bravely."
The name is very concise, full of wisdom, and has strong symbolic meaning, reminiscent of the entire company's business areas. In addition, the name does not have the letters R or S in its pinyin, making it easy to pronounce by people in most parts of the world and making spelling errors rare. At that time, SKF was already a large export company, so it was fully aware of the value of an excellent brand name.
A year or two before this, when the American entrepreneur and camera manufacturer Eastman invented photographic film, he also adopted the same idea and chose a simple but without the letter R for his product. or the brand name of S.
In order to have maximum freedom in using this new brand name, SKF took full advantage of this opportunity when describing the company's business scope in the registration application to cover completely different but interrelated fields. Some of these products were already being produced by the company at the time, some might be produced in the future, and some were never produced at all. These products include: "ball bearings, roller bearings, machinery, transmissions, automobiles, bicycles, railway materials, transportation equipment, various transportation tools, and parts and auxiliary devices for the above products."
Materials for bicycles and railways had not yet begun production. However, in the following years, VOLVO did manufacture a few cars and other transportation vehicles. Some other products using the VOLVO brand name are very piecemeal, such as gas burners, trailers for camping equipment, office seats, etc.
After five years of silence, it started to move forward at full speed
Shortly after the founding of VOLVO, the First World War broke out, and the automobile industry came to a standstill. Efforts to find potential customers for the bearings had to shift away from the automobile industry and toward heavy vehicle manufacturing and other industries needed for the war effort. After struggling for survival for five years, Aktiebolaget Volvo ceased operations in 1920. SKF has decided to sell all its products under its original brand name in the future.
AB Volvo's name was shelved until August 1926, when, after a long process of persuasion, the SKF board of directors finally agreed to provide financial support for the idea of ??creating an automobile manufacturing company. For years, a company employee named Arthur Gebrison had been brewing such an idea in his mind.
Arthur Gebrison and his engineer friend Gustav Larsson together encouraged SKF to build Sweden's own cars. SKF finally approved the project, provided the required funding, and the documents that created AB Volvo were revealed. The company's legal name is also used to name the cars it produces. In the early stages of building prototypes, the product was named after Larsen.
A long-established brand logo
At the same time, the company decided to adopt a new brand logo, which is the ancient chemical symbol for the element iron - a circle with an arrow inside, with the arrows facing each other. The diagonal direction points to the upper right corner. In Western civilization, this can be regarded as the oldest and most common trademark. It originated in the Roman Empire and is a symbol of three different concepts: Mars, the Roman god of war, and male masculinity. It also embodies the relationship between Mars and the people used at that time. The original origin of iron from which most weapons are made.
Because of this, this logo has long been regarded as a symbol of the steel industry by countries around the world, including Sweden. The reason why the brand logo representing the iron element is used on the car is to remind people of the Swedish steel industry with its glorious tradition and the strength of steel. The brand logo on the car also includes the word VOLVO written in the company's unique font. On the first car successfully manufactured in 1927, all the company's logos were fully displayed, including a diagonal ribbon set on the radiator that sloped from the upper left to the lower right. This ribbon was originally set up for technical reasons to fix the chrome emblem, but later gradually evolved into a decorative symbol that can still be found on the radiator grille of every Volvo car produced today. In addition, the symbol representing the element iron can still be found in the center of the steering wheel.
The company is still moving forward
In 1999, VOLVO Car Company was transferred to Ford Motor Company by its owner, AB Volvo Company. However, a reservation condition was stipulated in the transfer agreement: VOLVO Car Company and other companies under the VOLVO Group can still use this brand name in the future. Therefore, the brand name has become the property of VOLVO Trademark Holding Company, which is jointly owned by the VOLVO Group of Companies and Ford Motor Company and has the right to decide under what circumstances the brand name can be used. Currently, the holding company's management structure consists of AB Volvo President and CEO Ralph Johnson and Ford Motor Company Chairman and CEO Bill Ford.
To date, VOLVO has produced a total of approximately 13.5 million vehicles, in addition to millions of trucks, large cars and construction machinery, as well as millions of marine engines, aerospace engines and Industrial engines and other products. Of the cars produced, 8 million are still driving around the world. Patent engineer Alfred Delmar, who signed the trademark application as a representative of SKF at the time, could hardly have imagined that he would play an important role in the creation of an important company that would survive for ninety years. After that, it is still familiar and respected by people all over the world, and has gained the attention of the global industry.
(Transfer)