4 million Volvo cars built in Ghent plant

The 4 millionth Volvo produced in Ghent was a 2009 V50 R

GHENT – August 11, 2008 : On August 8, the four millionth car was built at Volvo Cars Gent. It was a Volvo V50, a sporty R Design version, ordered by VDL, a customer from Breda in Netherlands.



Volvo Cars Gent has been building cars in Belgium since 1965. Initially the plant was set up to avoid the country's high import taxes on finished cars, but over the years Volvo Cars Gent has, together with Volvo Cars Torslanda, become one of the two main Volvo Cars factories.

The first model assembled in Ghent was the Volvo 120, better known as the Amazon. Other models followed: the Volvo 140 and 240 -series, the Volvo 740 and 940, the Volvo 850, the Volvo S70 and V70, and today the Volvo C30, S40, V50 and S60.

Volvo Cars Gent has more than 4,000 employees who built about 200,000 cars 2007.
The milestone of one million cars was reached in Ghent as recently as 1988, and it was not until 1997 that the two million mark was passed.
In 2004, the third millionth car was built in Ghent and there was a capacity to build 250,000 cars a year.

2008 seems to be a jubilee year for the production of Volvo Cars. On February 20, Volvo Cars built its 15 millionth car, a Volvo C70, in the Uddevalla plant (a joint venture company with Pininfarina, Pininfarina Sverige AB). Volvo Cars started building cars in 1927 in Go"teborg.
On June 16, the Volvo Cars Torslanda plant in Go"teborg assembled its 6 millionth car. The factory opened in 1964.

And now it is Volvo Cars Gent's turn. The 4 millionth car was handed over to the client VDL, parent company of Steelweld, one of Volvo Cars Gent's main suppliers of production installations for the Volvo XC60.

In a few weeks Volvo will start assembly of the XC60 in Ghent. This new model is a crossover with which Volvo Cars enters a new and growing segment.

[Source : Volvo]