Volvo Cars Becomes Live 8 Global Sponsor

Volvo Cars Becomes Live 8 Global Sponsor

Company One of Three Global Sponsors to Support Historic July 2 Event to Promote Ending Poverty

IRVINE, Calif., June 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Volvo Cars of North America today announced it has signed on as a sponsor for Live 8, becoming one of three global underwriters for the worldwide July 2 concert event to raise awareness for ending poverty in the world's poorest nations.

Joining AOL and Nokia as the event's largest sponsors, Volvo's support will feature a variety of advertising and other co-branded initiatives throughout the day of the event and in subsequent months.

Billed as "The Long Walk to Justice" and organized by Sir Bob Geldof, who also founded Live Aid in 1985, Live 8 will include free public concerts held in Philadelphia, London, Paris, Rome, Berlin, Tokyo, Johannesburg, Edinburgh and Toronto. The concerts are non-partisan rallying points calling on the members of the G8 Summit to drop the debts owed to them by the world's 18 poorest countries and to significantly increase the aid provided to those countries.

"We're extremely thankful to have Volvo Cars on board to help make Live 8 a reality," said Sir Bob Geldof. "Volvo Cars is a company known internationally for their focus on humanity. The company's donation will impact our world positively for generations and generations."

The concerts will feature performances by such artists as Sir Paul McCartney, U2, Stevie Wonder, Pink Floyd, Annie Lennox, Sting, Jay-Z, Linkin Park, Mariah Carey, Destiny's Child, Dave Matthews Band, Joss Stone, REM and Coldplay. Millions are expected to attend and two billion are expected to view them online or on television -- making it the largest concert event, single broadcast and public gathering in history.

"Each day, more than 50,000 people die of poverty, and Live 8 is a way for people of all beliefs to join in calling for an end to poverty," said Hans-Olov Olsson, president and chief executive officer of Volvo Car Corporation. "This cause is important to the Volvo family, as well. For more than 75 years, we have demonstrated conscience, care and character in our manufacturing and in our business practices, through initiatives such as the Volvo for life Awards, which provides millions of dollars to honor local heroes and their charities. Our Live 8 sponsorship is one more way for us to show and tell our commitment to improving the quality of life for people across the world."

Volvo will telecast six commercials during a Live 8 special telecast on the United States' ABC-TV on July 2, airing 8 - 10 p.m. E.T. The company also will provide artist transportation back stage at the London and Philadelphia shows. And, Volvo will be one of the presenting sponsors of the DVD release of the event, set for distribution in Nov. 2005. Logo placements at various locations throughout the concert venues in each city also will highlight Volvo's sponsorship.

For more information on the event, visit www.live8live.com.

Volvo has been building cars with Safety in mind for over 75 years. The 2005 Volvo Cars model line-up includes: the award-winning new Volvo S40 and its wagon counterpart the all-new Volvo V50; the award-winning Volvo XC90; the sporty Volvo S60 sedan -- including the award-winning performance sedan - S60 R and the performance wagon version - V70 R; the flagship Volvo S80 luxury sedan; versatile Volvo V70 wagon and rugged Volvo XC70 (Cross Country); and, the Volvo C70 convertible.

Source: Volvo Cars of North America

CONTACT: Soren Johansson of Volvo Cars of North America, +1-949-341-6719, sjohan44@volvocars.com; or Eric Davis of Haberman & Associates, +1-612-372-6447, eric@modernstorytellers.com, for Volvo Cars of North America

Web site: http://www.volvocars.com/ http://www.live8live.com/

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