The Volvo Group is a Swedish multinational manufacturing company headquartered in Gothenburg. Although its main business is the manufacture, distribution and sale of trucks, buses and construction equipment, Volvo also provides marine and industrial drive systems and financial services. In 2016 it had 94,914 employees and in 2016 it was the world's second largest manufacturer of heavy trucks. Although often confused with luxury vehicle manufacturer Volvo Cars, also based in Gothenburg, the two companies have been independent since AB Volvo sold Volvo Cars to Ford Motor Company in 1999. Since 2010, Volvo Cars has been owned by the Geely Holding Group, a Chinese multinational automobile manufacturer. Both AB Volvo and Volvo Cars share the Volvo logo and collaborate in running the Volvo Museum. The President of the Volvo Group is Carl-Henric Svanberg and the President and CEO of the Volvo Group is Martin Lundstedt. The president of Volvo Car is Li Shufu and the president and CEO of Volvo Car is Håkan Samuelsson. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayVolvo was founded in 1915 as a subsidiary of SKF, the ball bearing manufacturer; However, the Volvo Group and Volvo Cars consider themselves officially founded on 14 April 1927, when the first automobile, the Volvo ÖV 4 series, nicknamed "Jakob", rolled out of the factory in Hisingen, Gothenburg. In 1924, Assar Gabrielsson, sales director of SKF, and Gustav Larson, an engineer trained at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, the two founders, decided to start building a Swedish car. They wanted to build cars that could withstand the rigors of the country's rough roads and cold temperatures. AB Volvo began operations on August 10, 1926. After a year of preparations involving the production of ten prototypes, the company was ready to start automotive manufacturing within the SKF group. The Volvo Group itself believes that it all began in 1927, when the first Volvo car rolled off the production line at the Gothenburg plant. Only 280 cars were built that year. The first truck, the "Series 1", debuted in January 1928, enjoying immediate success and attracting attention outside the country. In 1930, Volvo sold 639 cars and soon after began exporting trucks to Europe; the cars became famous outside Sweden only after World War II. AB Volvo was introduced on the Stockholm Stock Exchange in 1935 and SKF then decided to sell its shares in the company. Volvo Car Corporation was part of Ford Motor Company's Premier Automotive Group, along with Jaguar, Aston Martin and Land Rover. While part of PAG, the company significantly expanded its vehicle range. When the 2008 global economic crisis threatened U.S. automakers, Swedish authorities worried about Volvo's fate if Ford filed for bankruptcy. These concerns have increased after repeated mass layoffs at Volvo. Ford announced in December 2008 that it was considering selling Volvo Cars. Ultimately, the Chinese company Geely Holding Group was chosen to take over the Swedish car manufacturer. Geely Group Holdings Co. reportedly offered about $1.5 billion to take over Volvo, while Goldman Sachs invested $334 million in the holding company. Under Geely's ownership, Volvo has refocused its product range. In 2015, for the first time in its 89-year history, Volvo sold more than half a million cars. In July 2017, the automaker announced that starting in 2019, all of its new models will include an electric motor in their powertrain..