Volvo Cars, or Volvo Personvagnar AB, is a Swedish automobile manufacturer founded in 1927 in the city of Gothenburg, Sweden, and currently owned by Ford Motor Company. 1944 Safety cage 1944 Laminated windscreen 1954 Defroster vents for windscreen 1956 Windscreen washers 1957 Anchor points for 2point safety belts front 1958 Anchor points for 2point safety belts rear 1959 3point front safety belts standard 1960 Padded instrument panel 1964 First rearwardfacing child safety seat prototype tested 1966 Crumple zones front and rear 1966 Safety doorlocks 1967 Safety belt rear seats 1969 Inertia reel safety belts 1971 Reminder safety belt 1972 3point safety belts rear 1972 Rearwardfacing child safety seat 1972 Childproof locks on rear doors 1974 Multistage impact absorbing steering column 1974 Bulb integrity sensor 1975 Braking system with stepped bore master cylinder 1978 Child safety booster cushion 1982 "Antisubmarining" protection 1986 Threepoint safety belt centre rear seat 1990 Integrated child safety cushion in centre rear seat 1991 SIPS Side Impact Protection System 1991 Automatic height adjusting safety belt 1992 Reinforced rear seats in estate models 1995 Integrated child safety cushion outer rear seats 1997 ROPS Roll Over Protection System (C70) 1998 WHIPS Whiplash Protection System 1998 IC Inflatable Curtain 2001 SCC Volvo Safety Concept Car 2002 RSC Roll Stability Control 2003 New Front Structure called Volvo Intelligent Vehicle Architecture (VIVA) (S40, V50) 2003 Rear seat belt reminders (in S40 and V50) 2003 IDIS Intelligent Driver Information System (in S40 and V50) 2003 Inauguration of Volvo's Traffic Accident Research Team in Bangkok 2004 BLIS Blind Spot Information System (in S40 and V50) 2005 Introduction of DMIC (Door Mounted Inflatable Curtain) (new Volvo C70) 2006 PCC - Personal Car Communicator (S80) 2006 CWBS - Collision Warning with Brake Support (S80) 2007 PPB - Power Park Brake (S80) 2007 DAC - Driver Alert Control (V70, XC70) 2009 City Safety - Automatically stop car at speeds below 19 mph if obstruction is detected in front of car (XC60) Volvo was originally formed as a subsidiary company to the ball bearing maker SKF. It was not until 1935 when Volvo AB was introduced on the Swedish stock exchange that SKF sold most of the shares in the company. Volvo Cars was owned by AB Volvo until 1999, when it was acquired by the Ford Motor Company as part of its Premier Automotive Group. Volvo produces models ranging from SUVs, wagons, and sedans to compact executive sedans and coupes. With 2,500 dealerships worldwide in 100 markets; 60 percent of sales come from Europe, 30 percent from North America, and the other 10 percent is from the rest of the world.