About us

Serving You Since 1979

ABUS 6may16

Volvo has been serving the diplomat, expat and military community since the mid-1950s and has sold hundreds of thousands of Volvos to these customer groups. Luigi Pelosi sr. was one of the first exclusive military dealers in Germany, establishing his business in the 1960s.

A.V.U.S.-Automobile was founded in 1979 by Luigi Pelosi jr. in Hanau, Germany – one of the largest U.S. military garrisons in Europe at that time. We have been an authorized factory agent for Volvo Diplomat, Military and Expat sales until the program was restructured in 2019 and the responsibility for the program was delegated to Volvo’s national sales companies.

AVUS Automobile

1979
authorized Volvo U.S. Military Sales agency in Hanau, 
later on also military sales for VW, BMW and Suzuki (GM)

1993
established branch office for Volvo Military Sales in Heidelberg

1997
web page launch; start of e-business to serve customers world-wide, independent from time-zones

1998
established branch office for Volvo Military Sales in Mannheim

2006
added Jaguar & Land Rover Military Sales to our portfolio in Hanau, Heidelberg and Mannheim

2008
established branch office for Jaguar & Land Rover Military Sales in Wiesbaden (Mainz-Kastel)

2017
serving the international communities in Hanau (near Frankfurt), Heidelberg, Mannheim and Karlsruhe

since 2019
Diplomat & NATO Sales: Volvo | Jaguar & Land Rover (see below)

After 40 years of impeccable service to its clients, A.V.U.S.-Automobile now sells premium European cars in cooperation with authorized local dealerships in the metropolitan regions of Frankfurt Rhine-Main and Rhine-Neckar. We exclusively manage the diplomat / military sales program for Auto Amthauer in Hanau (Volvo), Auto Center Milinski in Bruchkoebel (Jaguar / Land Rover) and Autohaus Geisser in Leimen (Heidelberg), Mannheim and Karlsruhe (Volvo + Jaguar / Land Rover).


Volvo Cars: Core Values

Safety has been Volvo’s guiding star since 1927. The Volvo founders stated that “Safety is and must be the basic principle in all design work”. We work hard to stay at the forefront of the industry by taking an overall approach to safety, which has proven effective in real traffic situations. Developing crash-safe cars is a given. Volvo Cars is also a leader in the field of active safety with solutions such as the pedestrian detection with full auto brake and City Safety.

Our environmental strategy encompasses the car’s environmental impact throughout its life cycle – from development, use and service to recycling when the car is scrapped. Greatest focus is on the actual use of the car, since that affects the environment the most.

Everything we do starts with people. We believe that a car should be designed to suit the driver, not the other way around. Our Scandinavian heritage is highly important to us. The classic values of Scandinavian design such as simplicity, functionality and durability have been cornerstones of our designs for a long time. Volvo – designed around you!

Quality is simply a fundamental principle for everything we do at Volvo Cars. We have a long history of reliability and a commitment to quality and customer satisfaction. The objective is clear: Volvo Cars shall achieve top level customer satisfaction with premium products and services with an excellent quality culture consisting of pride and passion with focus on customer needs.

Sustainability

As a human-centric company, Volvo Cars is brand for people who care about other people and the world in which we live. Volvo Cars is a proud founding member of the UN Global Compact, a voluntary initiative to implement universal sustainability principles.

Volvo Cars is proud to have been recognized as a 2019 World’s Most Ethical Company® by the Ethisphere Institute for the third consecutive year. Ethisphere institute is a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices. This is a welcome acknowledgement of our comprehensive Compliance and Ethics Program which aims to ensure that our employees and our business partners act responsibly and ethically. Volvo Cars is committed to fostering a culture of Ethical Leadership.

At Volvo Cars, it’s not just about what we do, but how we do it. Consideration for others is paramount, and our strict Code of Conduct ensures that we conduct business in an ethical and responsible way.
Volvo Cars Code of Conduct – Download
Code of Conduct for business partners – Download

Everyone working at, or with, Volvo Cars should be comfortable raising questions or concerns about ethical issues or cases of non-compliance. We support a culture of openness, integrity, and accountability. If you want to report a violation of our Code of Conduct, you can submit a report.


Fun fact: What does the Volvo logo mean?

Contrary to common assumptions, it does not represent masculinity. We all know that women are better drivers anyway, right?
Volvo’s logo is derived from the ancient alchemical symbol for iron, chosen because Sweden is well-known for the quality of its iron. We call it the Volvo Iron Mark.


 

A tradition of World Firsts

Volvo Cars has a rich heritage of innovation. Here are just a few examples of the world firsts introduced by Volvo throughout our history.

1944: Laminated windshield
The Volvo PV444 becomes the world’s first car with a laminated windshield.
1959: Three-point safety belt 
Volvo is first in the world to fit this crucial safety feature, making it standard on Amazons and PV544s in Scandinavian markets.
1964: Rear-facing child seat
Our astronaut-inspired rear-facing child seat prototype in the PV544 would come to production in 1967.
1976: Child booster cushion 
Belt-positioning booster cushion for children. 
1976: Lambda Sond
A three-way catalytic converter and Lambda sensors are fitted to Californian market Volvos, reducing hazardous emissions by up to 90 percent.
1979: Wide-angle mirror
The wide-angle driver’s rearview mirror gives a much better view of what’s behind. 
1990: Integrated booster cushion
Our fold-down/fold-out booster cushion makes its debut in the rear center of the Volvo 960. 
1990: Center rear inertia-reel seat belt
An inertia-reel seat belt for the rear center seat becomes standard.
1991: SIPS
The Volvo 850’s integrated SIPS side-impact protection system minimizes penetration into the passenger compartment in accidents. 
1991: Automatic safety belt adjustment
Automatic height adjustment for safety belts debuts in the Volvo 850.
1998: Inflatable Curtain
A roof-mounted Inflatable Curtain airbag helps protect heads in the S80.
1998: Environmental Product Declaration
Volvo S80 is the first car ever to receive an Environmental Product Declaration. 
1999: Rearward-facing seat for ISOFIX 
The world’s first solution for the standardized, car-integrated ISOFIX fitting system offers a safe and easy way to install a child car seat correctly.
2001: Volvo On Call
Volvo On Call becomes the world’s first fully integrated and factory-fitted SOS system.
2002: Boron steel 
Super-strong Boron steel is first used, debuting in the XC90.
2003: IDIS
Intelligent Driver Information System delays phone calls and non-critical information when necessary. 
2003: Volvo Ambient Air Cleaner 
VAAC filters noxious fumes and neutralizes other cars’ exhaust emissions.
2004: BLIS
Volvo’s Blind Spot Information System monitors the driver’s mirror blind spot. 
2004: Inflatable Curtain for convertibles 
Overcoming the challenge of fitting Inflatable Curtains in convertibles is a world-first.
2005: Driver Alert 
Our innovative system to alert the driver before he or she falls asleep.
2007: Integrated two-stage booster cushion
Our integrated booster cushion has belt pretensioners and two seat heights, making it adaptable for growing children.
2011: Plug-in Diesel Hybrid
Volvo’s V60 Plug-in Hybrid is the world’s first diesel plug-in. 
2012: Pedestrian Airbag 
Pedestrian Airbag Technology debuts on the Volvo V40.
2013: i-Art 
Drive-E diesels feature feedback from each fuel injector.
2013: Cyclist Detection with full auto brake 
Detects and automatically brakes for cyclists.
2014: Inflatable Child Seat 
Rearward-facing child seat concept can be tucked away in a small bag when not in use. 
2014: Run-off Road Protection
Rearward-facing child seat concept can be tucked away in a small bag when not in use. 
2015: Large Animal Detection
If a large animal appears in front of your car then Large Animal Detection, which is part of City Safety, can warn about the animal and provide brake assistance in certain situations.
2019: The E.V.A. Initiative
Volvo Cars is for the first time making its safety knowledge easily accessible in a central digital library which it urges the car industry to use, in the interest of safer roads for all.
2019: Oncoming mitigation by braking
City Safety can help you apply the brakes for an oncoming vehicle in your lane. If an oncoming vehicle veers into your lane and a collision is unavoidable, City Safety can help reduce your vehicle’s speed to attempt to mitigate the force of the collision.
2019: Hazard Light Alert and Slippery Road Alert
The technology allows Volvo cars to communicate with each other and alert drivers of nearby slippery road conditions and hazards via a cloud-based network (introduced in Europe)

Vision 2020: “Our vision is that by 2020 no one should be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo car.”