Volvo Canada celebrates its 50th anniversary
There is 50 years old today, the Honourable Henry Courtemanche, Secretary of State of Canada, allows writings for a new legal entity doing business under the name of Volvo (Canada) Ltee. During the five decades that followed, the brand logo of the Swedish iron company became an entity so well familiere about 350,000 vehicles Volvo is Canadian homes.
While the Volvo Cars of Canada today celebrated its 50th anniversary in Canada, Volvo story really begins one year earlier. In 1958, a condition called company Auto Imports (Swedish) Ltd. concluded an agreement with Volvo AB of Sweden to import and distribute Volvo vehicles for Canadians. But it soon became evident that a more formal presence of Volvo would be required to serve the Canadian market. Volvo Canada Ltd. was founded July 21, 1959 and initially establishes its offices in Montreal, but the company eventually settled in Scarborough, Ontario. In 1961, it became fully functional and responsible for the Volvo brand.
In 1965, Scarborough office not enough for him and the company moving into a building and a warehouse near Don Mills. In the space of barely seven years, the location of Don Mills was already too small and the company moved to the site it occupies at this time on Gordon Baker Road, in the north of Toronto.
Assembly plants in Canada
In 1963, AB Volvo establishes its first assembly plant abroad in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, for producing the PV 544 for the North American market. In 1966, the plant had reached its annual capacity of 3700 units. In 1967, production was transferred to a new larger factory in Halifax or the capacity was increased to over 8,000 units. The factory assembled Volvo P120, the series 140, the 200 series, the 700 series, S70 and V70 before closing its doors in 1998.
Volvo vehicles and safety
Since Auto Imports began to order Volvo vehicles in the late 1950s, over 350,000 vehicles were sold to Canadians. Volvo vehicles have influenced the automobile industry, not only in Canada but around the world, particularly at the level of security.
During the existence of Volvo Car Corporation, over 80 years, many futures have been developed at the security. The most notable contribution of the company was presented in 1959 with the launch of the seatbelt fastening a three-point developed by Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin. Realizing the effectiveness, simplicity and the importance of design Bohlin, Volvo offered the patent of the safety belt with three points throughout the automotive industry. Since then, Volvo presents the crumple zones in its vehicles in 1966 and in 1974, repositioning the fuel tank to improve security. Airbags, driver side, were added in 1987, while SIPS, side airbags, ROPS, Roll-Over Protection convertibles, and WHIPS, the system of anti-kickback protection were offered respectively in 1994, 1997 and 1998 . BLIS, the information system BLIS was presented in 2004 and in 2007, the beginning of the integrated booster seat has two levels has extended the search for Volvo to improve the safety of passengers of all ages.
Today, the company's commitment to security is found in the XC60 crossover, the newest of its vehicles. While the industry has made great strides in matters of protective security - the protection of occupants in a collision - the Volvo engineers have begun to find ways to help drivers avoid a collision completely. The XC60 is the first vehicle in the world to offer City Safety - a system of mitigation and avoidance of collision at low speed - climbs standard equipment. When the XC60 vehicle rolls at a speed less than 30 km / h, City Safety can avoid a rear collision or help in reducing the severity if the driver reacts to the situation in any way. Research the company has demonstrated that approximately 75% of all collisions occur at speeds of 30 km / h or less.
Volvo Canada working on his next start, the next generation S60 sedan. The S60 Concept was presented at the International Exhibition North American auto held in Detroit in 2009. With the S60, the company seeks to further enhance the Volvo design language and provide a unique driving experience of its kind in the European sport sedan segment. Innovation in matters of security is never far behind and Volvo Cars will present in the next generation S60 a detection system for the avoidance of collisions with pedestrians. The car should be on sale in 2010.
The Volvo Cars of Canada is part of the Volvo Car Corporation of Gothenburg, Sweden. The company provides marketing, sales, parts, service, technology and training support to the 41 Volvo automobile retailers in the country. Its product range includes sports and stylisee C30, the elegant C70 hardtop convertible, the compact S40 sedan, the S80 sedan and V50 and V70. For customers looking for a Volvo vehicle capabilities to driving off-road, the company offers the versatile XC60 - a crossover vehicle with standard equipment in the City Safety system - and the XC70 and XC90 vehicles.
