Volvo VIN Decoder & VIN Check — Models, Recalls, Specs, MPG & Safety
“For Life”
Volvo Cars is a Swedish luxury vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Gothenburg. Founded in 1927 by Assar Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larson as a subsidiary of ball-bearing maker SKF, Volvo Cars became independent in 1935. Ford acquired Volvo Cars in 1999 and sold it to Chinese conglomerate Geely Holding Group in 2010, which has invested over $11 billion in product development and global expansion since.
Volvo invented the three-point safety belt in 1959 and gave away the patent royalty-free, an act estimated by the company to have saved more than one million lives. The brand's safety positioning continues with the 2008 City Safety automatic emergency braking — the first standard-fitment AEB on a passenger vehicle — and the goal that no one should be seriously injured or killed in a new Volvo by 2020 (a target the company partially achieved). The XC60, XC90 and XC40 anchor Volvo's SUV lineup, with the EX30, EX40 and EX90 representing the dedicated electric portfolio.
Volvo Cars trades on the Nasdaq Stockholm exchange under VOLCAR-B. Recall data for every Volvo VIN is reported to NHTSA. EPA fuel-economy ratings, IIHS Top Safety Pick+ designations (which Volvo holds across nearly its full lineup) and J.D. Power studies provide independent benchmarks. ForCar.org decodes any Volvo VIN to surface trim, factory options, open recalls and original MSRP.
Volvo at a glance
- Founded
- 1927
- Founders
- Assar Gabrielsson, Gustaf Larson
- Headquarters
- Gothenburg, Sweden
- Parent
- Geely Holding Group (since 2010)
- Stock ticker
- Stockholm: VOLCAR-B
- Safety milestone
- Three-point belt invented 1959 (patent free)
- Bestselling SUV
- XC60
- All-electric by
- 2030 (corporate commitment)
- Basic warranty
- 4 years / 50,000 miles
- Powertrain warranty
- 4 years / 50,000 miles
Decode any Volvo VIN
Enter a 17-character VIN below to retrieve the trim, factory options, original window-sticker MSRP and any open NHTSA recall affecting that specific vehicle. ForCar.org pulls the same dataset that Volvo dealers use to notify owners of safety recalls.
VIN Decoder
Signature Volvo technology
Volvo heritage
Volvo (Latin for I roll) was registered in 1915 by SKF as a trademark for ball bearings before Assar Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larson reused it for the automobile venture in 1927. The first car, the ÖV 4 Jakob, rolled off the line on April 14, 1927. Engineer Nils Bohlin invented the three-point safety belt in 1959, and Volvo released the patent for free use by all manufacturers — the safety belt has been credited with saving more than one million lives.
Market position
Volvo competes in the global luxury SUV and sedan segments against German rivals BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi, with safety and Scandinavian design as its primary differentiators. Under Geely ownership, Volvo has expanded production with new plants in China and Charleston, South Carolina (USA). The brand committed in 2021 to a fully electric lineup by 2030 and has accelerated PHEV (Recharge) availability across all internal-combustion model lines as a transition.
New-vehicle warranty
VOLVO VIN Decoder — Free VIN Check Video Guide
Watch our quick VOLVO VIN decoder walkthrough. Learn how to decode any VOLVO VIN number to get full vehicle history, recall alerts, specifications, fuel economy (MPG), safety ratings, and known problems — completely free on ForCar.org.
All Volvo models (99)
Frequently asked questions
When was Volvo founded and by whom?
Volvo was founded in 1927 by Assar Gabrielsson, Gustaf Larson and is headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Where is the VIN on a Volvo vehicle?
The 17-character VIN appears in four standard locations: dashboard at the windshield base (driver side), driver-side door jamb sticker, the engine bay (firewall or engine block stamping), and the vehicle's title, registration and insurance documents.
How many Volvo models can ForCar.org decode?
ForCar.org indexes 99 Volvo nameplates. Any 17-character Volvo VIN is decoded against the NHTSA dataset to return trim, factory options, open recalls and original window-sticker MSRP.
What is the Volvo warranty?
Basic: 4 years / 50,000 miles. Powertrain: 4 years / 50,000 miles.
How to check Volvo recalls by VIN?
Enter your VIN in the decoder above. ForCar.org queries NHTSA's open-recall dataset for that specific VIN and returns any safety recalls or Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs) that affect your vehicle.
Disambiguation: This page covers Volvo Cars, the Geely-owned passenger-vehicle brand — not Volvo Group AB (the separate Swedish truck and bus manufacturer that retained the Volvo name after the 1999 Ford sale).
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