Last Updated on October 29, 2022 by Victor A
If you ever wondered about the name of which car company means “I roll” in Latin, let me tell you first that the car company is Volvo, one of the most recognized car brands in the world.
Owed to the amount of effort they put in making their vehicles as reliable and safe as possible, it’s no wonder why it managed to soar for so long in the automobile industry.
If you want to know about the origin of its name, its logo, and some history about it, you might find this article interesting.
The meaning of Volvo, I roll (in Latin)
The name of this Swedish company dates back to 1927, when founders Gustaf Larson and Assar Gabrielsson together with the SKF group (its parent company), decided the name of the newly formed company that would end up becoming one of the most important car manufacturers in history.
Volvo means “I roll” in Latin. The infinitive form of the word “volvo”, is “volvere” (to roll). The founders decided to use the first person of the infinitive of volvere.
The idea behind using the word “volvo” was to convey the fact that the vehicle could move (roll), plus it’s a simple, and easy-to-remember word that can hardly be mispronounced or misspelled.
The Logo of the car company and its meaning
It’s very common to misbelieve that the Volvo logo is related to the male gender symbol as it looks almost identical, however, the logo has a completely different meaning.
A century ago, Sweden was well-known for its steel production, as one of the world leaders on this material, Volvo wanted to convey that in its emblem. Volvo decided to relate the steel essence with its cars as it conveys strength and durability, some of its vehicle’s main characteristics.
The ancient chemical symbol of iron it’s a circle with an arrow placed upwards to the right. Volvo used that as a reference for its logo.
However, the same symbol is used for the ancient Roman god of war called Mars, the astrological symbol used for Mars, and of course, for the male gender symbol.
Volvo’s Origin
The Swedish automaker was founded on April 14, 1927, in Gothenburg, Sweden by Gustaf Larson and Assar Gabrielsson. Volvo was part of Svenska Kullagerfabriken (SKF), a Swedish company that produced ball bearings for automobiles.
Volvo released its first automobile on the 14th of April of 1927, the Volvo ÖV 4, and in 1955, the first Volvos started to arrive in the United States.
In 1999, Ford purchased Volvo Car Corporation, adding it to the Ford Motor Company’s Premier Automotive Group (PAG), which included Jaguar, Aston Martin, and Land Rover. However, in 2008 Ford decided to put Volvo on sale due to low sales caused by the financial crisis.
In 2010, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group purchased Volvo for $1.3 billion cash and a $200 million note, making it the largest overseas acquisition performed by a Chinese carmaker.
Today, Volvo boasts of strong sales, and thanks to the financial backing of Geely Automobile, it’s aiming to only sell electric-powered vehicles by 2030.
Volvo means innovation: The Three-Point Safety Belt
Back in 1959, Nils Boglin, a Volvo engineer, invented the three-point safety belt. It was introduced in the Volvo PV 544.
Volvo is well-known for its commitment to safety, and they proved it in an outstanding move: they decided to waive their intellectual property rights for the seatbelt, therefore allowing everyone to benefit from the invention.
Thanks to this, millions of lives have been saved by this invention.
Now that you know the name of the car company that means “I roll” in Latin, and its origin, you can understand why it’s so respected as a company, which is one of the biggest in the world.
Source: VOLVO
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