In early 2007, Volvo Construction Equipment completed its investment in a 70% stake in Shandong Lingong Construction Machinery Company Limited (Shandong Lingong), a major construction machinery company in China.
Volvo, the famous Swedish automobile brand, was once translated as Regal. The brand was founded in 1927 in Gothenburg, Sweden, by Gustav Larsson and Arthur Gebelsen. The Volvo Group is the world's leading manufacturer of commercial transportation and construction equipment, with a focus on trucks, buses, construction equipment, drive systems for marine and industrial applications, and aero-engine components; as well as a complete range of solutions for finance and after-sales services.In 1999, the Volvo Group sold its Volvo car business to the U.S.-based Ford Motor Company.In 2010, the Chinese automotive company Zhejiang Geely Holding Group purchased the Volvo car business from Ford and gained ownership of the Volvo car brand.
On April 8, 2014, Volvo announced it was suspending an agreement with a Russian company to jointly develop an infantry armored fighting vehicle due to uncertainty stemming from the crisis in Ukraine.
The Volvo Group opened its first Chinese office in Beijing in 1992, and 2012 marks the twentieth anniversary of the Group's presence in China. All of the Group's business areas and service divisions are now present in China, with operations in twenty-two provinces and autonomous regions, and around six thousand employees in China. China has become the only "local" market outside of Sweden where the Group has a full range of businesses.
The Volvo Group's development in China can be divided into two phases: the first ten years of strategic layout, and the second ten years of vigorous development. China has become the Volvo Group's third largest independent market in the world, with net sales of RMB 24 billion in 2011, accounting for 7.4% of the Group's global sales. The Volvo Group's two decades of cultivation and development in the Chinese market have led to the Volvo brand being y rooted in China, accumulating more than 300 distribution partners, and providing complete and comprehensive solutions to maximize customer value.
In line with the Group's overall development strategy, the Volvo Group has been working with its sub-brands to segment the market, to get closer to the Chinese market, and to meet the growing development needs of its customers in China with a multi-brand strategy and continuous technological innovation.
The Group's truck business in China, in addition to the provision of European quality Volvo and Renault brand heavy trucks, the Dongfeng Group and the Volvo Group hold 55% and 45% of the equity to set up a new Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle Company, which is registered in Shiyan and headquartered in Shiyan, and will research and develop, produce, and sell the "Dongfeng" brand automobiles. The company will develop, produce and sell vehicles under the brand name of "Dongfeng". Its products cover medium and heavy trucks, buses, special purpose vehicles and chassis, engines and transmissions. The new Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle Company will make use of the technology and expertise of both parties to carry out continuous restructuring and upgrading of medium and heavy commercial vehicle product platforms, comprehensively enhance the commodity planning and R&D capability of Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle, build a world-class advanced commercial vehicle technology center and commodity planning system, and construct an overseas manufacturing system and overseas sales base to meet the needs of overseas strategy.