Trucks Join The Army

The first half of the 1940s was, of course, dominated by World War II. This meant that sales of civilian trucks progressed very slowly. Fortunately, military customers came to call and Volvo became a major supplier to the Swedish armed forces. During World War II, thousands of "Roundnose" trucks were delivered, in a standard model, with simplified design, and also in an all-wheel-drive model.

The "Roundnose" trucks, which were introduced as "1940" models in late 1939, consisted of a wide range of trucks that looked similar but covered a large number of transport applications. The front, for instance, was available in at least three distinctly different lengths.  The "Roundnoses" were to be perhaps the most successful Volvo trucks until the F trucks of the 1970s onwards.