Productiecijfer 2004 bekendgemaakt

[Ben]

Volvo Production in 2004
May 2004 saw production of the previous medium-size S40 model and its V40 estate version come to an end at the NedCar factory in Born, Holland. Volvo Cars thus ceased its 32 year long operation in the Netherlands. The last car made, which incidentally was the millionth in the S40/V40 series, was a V40 that was donated to charity.

Volvo Cars? main production is now concentrated in the company?s two factories in Torslanda in Göteborg (which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2004) and Ghent in Belgium, where the new S40 and V50 models are made. Both these factories have implemented major production increases over the past year and will face the future with even greater production capacity. Torslanda may well even initiate a third shift. At present, the capacity limits are 190,000 in Torslanda and 270,000 in Ghent. The long-term goal is for each factory to be able to handle 500,000 cars a year if demand requires.

C70
The Uddevalla factory, where the Volvo C70 convertible is made, is now owned and operated by a jointly owned company, Pininfarina Sverige AB, where Pininfarina owns 60 percent of the shares and Volvo Cars 40 percent. This is where Volvo?s next generation convertible will be manufactured.

In addition to these factories, Volvo Cars has assembly facilities in South Africa, Thailand and Malaysia.

Volvo Cars manufactured a total of 460,000 cars in 2004.

Diesel
Just over every second Volvo car sold in Europe is now powered by a diesel engine. In 2004, Volvo Cars expanded its diesel engine range with two variants, both with four cylinders and with displacements of 1.6 and 2.0 litres respectively. Both engines are the result of joint development with Ford/PSA.


The Skövde engine factory announced in December that Ford Motor Co will locate production of the four-cylinder 2-litre version there. In return, Volvo?s six-cylinder petrol engine, previously made at the Skövde factory, will be transferred to Ford?s Bridgend factory in Britain.