Abstract

The case describes the product development practices of Swedish automobile manufacturer - Volvo Car Corporation. Since its inception, Volvo has laid emphasis on automobile safety. The case elaborates on Volvo’s production system and explains how the system was oriented towards manufacturing the safest cars in the world. At Volvo Safety Center, one of the most advanced safety engineering facilities, vehicles and their components were subjected to safety tests including computer simulation, component testing and crash testing. The case also discusses the various safety features incorporated in the Volvo Safety Concept Car and provides an overview of other advanced safety features which Volvo plans to introduce in near future.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Automobile safety, safety engineering.

Keywords

Case, Volvo AB, Product Development, Volvo Safety Center, Safety Engineering, Volvo's Safety Philosophy, Volvo Production System, Process-Oriented Manufacturing, Safety Systems of the Future, Computer Simulation, Crash Simulation, Component Testing, Safety Concept Car