Volvo - trucks for all time

2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:41

One of the leading places in the international truck market is occupied by the products of the Volvo Truck Corporation. Goods that come off the assembly line of their production compare favorably with their counterparts by high build quality and reliability during operation.

Company development history

The company was founded in 1920. At that time, it was only a part (branch) of a larger and already well-known SKF enterprise. The activity began with the production of passenger cars. Already at the beginning of 1928, the company began to produce the first Volvo trucks. Technical characteristics, together with quality and reliability, have done their job. Cars of this brand quickly became known all over the world.

Since the sixties of the twentieth century, the company began to pay special attention to the safety and comfort of drivers. It only added attention to their products. As for Russia, here the first representative office of Volvo appeared in 1994. But Volvo, trucks, have been on the country's market since 1973.

The beginning of the twenty-first century for the company was characterized bystructural changes in the company. In 2000, the Ford concern bought out a branch that manufactures passenger cars. This was followed by an attempt to acquire the rival Scania, which failed. As a result, Volvo merged with a French company RVI. To date, the company owns nine separate production facilities in different countries.

Development of the lineup

As mentioned above, Volvo (trucks) have been produced since 1928. The first was the LV40 model with a total weight of one and a half tons with a power unit from a passenger car. The engine was installed with a volume of 1.9 liters and a capacity of 28 horsepower. The truck was equipped with a simple wooden cab, new suspensions, rear axle and frame. It was produced in two versions of the base: 3.3 and 3.7 meters. Combining the experience of two countries (Sweden and the United States of America), the next year (1929) a new model LV60 appeared. It was distinguished by the installed Penta engine with a volume of three liters, a capacity of 65 horsepower, six cylinders (in-line). As well as hydraulic wheel brakes.

The thirties of the last century passed for the company in painstaking work. Truck tractors Volvo improved, new models and their families were created. At this time, the basic concept of the company's development was formed. In 1931, the LV64LF truck with three axles and a 6x2 drive rolled off the assembly line. It was already the seventh model of this company. Its mass was more than five tons. Around the same time, a series of trucks with a load of up to seven withhalf tons, a six-cylinder engine with a volume of 4.1 liters and a power of 75 horsepower. These were LV66/68, LV70/78 and LV81/86.

By the end of the thirties, the capacity of trucks produced increased to 130 horsepower, load capacity - up to ten tons, and total weight - up to fifteen tons. These include models such as LV180, LV190 and LV290. As a result, by the beginning of the next decade, Volvo Truck was already producing twelve families, which numbered about 40 truck modifications. During the war years, the company produced special military trucks, jeeps, half-track tractors, armored vehicles and even light tanks.

The post-war period was characterized by the appearance of a series of hooded vans. By the early fifties, trucks with six-cylinder engines developed by the company appeared. These were models such as LV150, LV245 and LV290. They were replaced by families of heavier trucks of the Viking and Titan series. They installed not only traditional gasoline engines, but also new diesel engines. These were models that looked more like modern tractors.

The most advanced F89 tractor appeared in 1970. It differed from a twelve-liter engine with six cylinders and a power of 330 hp. With. The gearbox had 16 steps. Later, a new type of transport was released by Volvo - trucks of the FH and FL series. By the end of the nineties, they were replaced by a new FM family with a total weight of up to 42 tons.

Designation of models

Volvo trucks survived the program in the sixtiesunification. Their models began to be called in a standard way. All hooded options began to be assigned to group N, and cabover options to F. The numbers in the model name can indicate the engine size (for example, F4 F5, F6S or F7) or the width of the truck (CH230). The letter L stands for low models. For example, cabover FL4, FL7 or FL12. FE models are intended for export.

Conclusion

Throughout its history, Volvo has produced a huge number of different models of trucks. Due to the high quality of products and a wide range of offers that meet the needs of the market, they have managed to win their niche in the market.