AB Volvo and Volvo Cars hold new Volvo Baltic Race

Last summers Volvo Baltic Race was a success in terms of the sport of sailing,
public interest and media coverage. As a result, AB Volvo and Volvo Car
Corporation have decided to once again be the title sponsors for the event in
2004.
The competition is an extremely important complement to the Volvo Ocean Race
and reinforces Volvos position as a long-term sponsor for the sport of
sailing, says Anders Lofgren of Volvo Ocean Race.

The Volvo Baltic Race for the SEB Trophy will be one of next years major
sailing races. The competition starts in Gothenburg on June 19, 2004, and will
end with the prize ceremony in Stockholm on July 8. During the race, the yachts
will also participate in the Kiel Week (Kieler Woche) and the Round Gotland
race. An innovation for next summer will be that the yachts will sail via
Copenhagen and in-port races will be organized in several of the harbors
visited.
Sailing enthusiasts will have the opportunity to see the V.O.60 yachts, which
have sailed around the world, competing side-by-side. This is an idea borrowed
from the plans for the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006.

In a short time, Volvo has become perhaps the most important and long-term
player in ocean sailing races and, with the Volvo Baltic Race, it has been
possible to bridge the periods between Volvo Ocean Races, something that others
have tried but have not succeeded in doing, says Gurra Krantz, owner of the
yacht that won this years Volvo Baltic Race.

An evaluation of this years competition showed that the sponsorship of the
Volvo Baltic Race was money well spent for Volvo. Just the value of the media
attention gained by Volvo during the race was several times greater than the
amount invested. In addition to media exposure, the competition also offered
extensive opportunities for relationship marketing, a highly important activity
for the Volvo companies.

Sailing represents many values that are important for the Volvo brand, such as
the environment, sustainability, teamwork and excitement, says Anders Lofgren.
The aim of the Volvo Baltic Race is to make ocean racing even more accessible to
a larger audience and to provide sponsors and sailors with an opportunity to
compete in the years between the Volvo Ocean Races, which are held every fourth
year.

For further information, please contact:
Marten Wikforss, AB Volvo, +46 31-66 11 27
Christer Gustafsson, Volvo Car Corporation, +46 31-59 65 25
Anders Lofgren, Volvo Ocean Race, +46 708-219309

The Volvo Group is one of the worlds leading manufacturers of trucks, buses and
construction equipment, drive systems for marine and industrial applications,
aerospace components and services. The Group also provides complete solutions
for financing and service. The Volvo Group, which employs about 71,000 people,
has production facilities in 25 countries and sells their products in more than
185 markets. Annual sales of the Volvo Group amount to 18 billion euro. The
Volvo Group is a publicly-held company headquartered in Goteborg, Sweden. Volvo
shares are listed on the stock exchanges in Stockholm, London and Frankfurt and
on NASDAQ in the US.