So there you have it, after the Geneva carshow, it’s official. Volvo has launched the new 2013 Volvo V40 with engine choices ranging from a low-emission diesel to a T5 turbo of 254bhp.  According to an official Volvo Car Corp. official, all the engines will be provided with start/stop technology and brake energy efficiency. Manual and automatic gearboxes are promised for the Airegard Volvo, but they haven’t yet been detailed. Due to arrive at US-dealers at the end of July 2012.

No matter what you think of european cars and sweedish cars in particular, this is one hell of a good looking wagon.

The new V40 is equipped with an advanced safety driver support package, including Volvo’s Pedestrian Detection System with Full Auto Brake, when an object is spotted. Also, the new SUV from Volvo comes with featured safety systems new on the global car market. Among the new features are a world-first pedestrian airbag, Lane Keeping Aid with haptic auto steering, and an ingenious Park Assist Pilot that makes parallel parking easy.

The City Safety low-speed collision avoidance system has been further developed and it now operates at speeds up to 50 km/h.

“The all-new V40 is the most intelligent and safe Volvo model so far. All its features are designed around the driver, helping him or her stay alert and well informed to avoid collisions and dangerous situations,” says Håkan Abrahamsson, Vehicle Line Director C Cars & V40 Vehicle Programme Manager. He adds:

“With this class-leading safety package, including enhanced focus on pedestrian protection, the all-new V40 aims for a full star rating in the new, sharpened 2012 Euro NCAP safety tests.”

Volvo focused towards its customers

Volvo is calling the V40 the first new model fully developed according to its human-centric, “Designed Around You” strategy. The interior was designed around the driver and features a new, fully graphic instrument cluster with personalized layout and information. Nevertheless, though it has been bought by Chinese Geely, Volvo Car Corp managed to keep the sleek IKEA-like lines with which it has used its customers in the last 30 years.

The interior even manages to catch the eye of a BMW or an Audi lover, keeping the geometric shapes of Volvo’s lines on the dashboard and on the interior graphs.

On 14 April 1927, the first mass-produced Volvo car rolled off the production line at the Lundby factory in Gatteborg. Now, 85 years later, the Volvo Group is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of commercial vehicles and Volvo Car Corporation sells almost 500,000 cars each year.

At 10 in the morning on 14 April 1927, sales manager Hilmer Johansson drove the first mass-produced V4 model through the factory gates in Lundby in Göteborg. Now, 85 years later, the same model will pass through exactly the same gates to celebrate Volvo’s birthday. Stefan Jacoby, President and CEO of Volvo Car Corporation, and Olof Persson, President and CEO of the Volvo Group, will be behind the wheel. (See the attached pictures). “It’s a fantastic car, but it’s easy to see how much has changed over the last 85 years,” says Stefan Jacoby, who recently premiered the new V40 at the Geneva Motor Show.

The Volvo Group and Volvo Car Corporation are two companies with a long shared history. However, what was at that time one company began as a very unpromising project, because Volvo’s founders Assar Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larson had no direct experience of cars or the automotive industry. During its first year of production, Volvo sold a very modest 300 cars. However, in the following year business really began to take off, when the company also started manufacturing trucks and buses. Even back then Volvo realised that the key to success lay in exports. “Our roots are still very important to us. Around 30,000 of the Volvo Group’s 120,000 employees work in Sweden, but 95 percent of our products are sold outside the country,” says Olof Persson. The equivalent figures for Volvo Car Corporation are 14,500 employees in Sweden out of a worldwide total of 21,500. Around 87 percent of all Volvo Car Corporation’s sales take place outside Sweden.

In 1999, the Volvo Group sold its car business. Since then, the two companies have continued to grow in different directions. Volvo Car Corporation is now in the premium segment and last year sold around 450,000 cars in 120 countries, with the USA as its single largest market. The Volvo Group produces trucks under the Volvo, Renault Trucks, Mack and UD Trucks brands, together with buses, construction equipment, drive systems for marine and industrial applications and components for aircraft engines. With a turnover of SEK 310 billion, the Volvo Group is the world’s second largest manufacturer of heavy trucks and Sweden’s largest company. The group has production sites in 20 countries and sales organisations in 190.

As a reslut of Volvo’s birthday Volvo Museum in Gothenburg will keep an open house at 11.00-16.00, April 14. If the weather is fine, a parade to the city center with both new and vintage vehicles will be organized.

Pictures with Volvo across time: