Volvo Cars was established in 1927. Although primarily a carmaker, it has since expanded into other industries, including trucks and construction equipment. In 1999, Volvo Group decided to sell its car division to focus on trucking. Ford Motor Company bought the group for SEK 50 billion ($6.4 billion), and brought it into its Premier Automotive Group (PAG) alongside other premium brands like Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover, and Lincoln.
Under Ford’s ownership, Volvo introduced the S80 and V70, based on the Ford EUCD platform, for the European market. Volvo even made the 300 horsepower V70 R station wagon, a modern classic you can get for cheap.
Ford also launched models with Volvo’s influence in 2004 – specifically the Ford Five Hundred and the Ford Freestyle. Although they’ve since been discontinued, they featured several Volvo safety technologies, like all-wheel drive, a collapsible steering column, and curtain airbags. You can still find these technologies in modern Ford vehicles, like the Ford Taurus, which replaced the short-lived Ford Five Hundred.
But, just like the other PAG brands on this list, Ford sold Volvo to help keep it afloat during the turbulent times of the late 2000s. Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, the parent company of Chinese carmaker Geely Auto, bought the brand in 2010 for $1.8 billion.
