Volvo Cars, or Volvo Personvagnar, is an automobile maker founded in 1927 in the city of Gothenburg in Sweden. Volvo, which is Latin for "I roll," was formed as a spin-off from roller ball bearing maker SKF. Volvo Cars was owned by AB Volvo until 1999, when it was acquired by the Ford Motor Company and placed in its Premier Automotive Group. In the US Volvo is marketed as a premium manufacturer with the intention of competing with Acura, Audi, BMW, Buick, Cadillac, Infiniti, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and Saab. Volvo has 2,500 dealerships worldwide in 100 markets; 60 percent of sales come from Europe, 30 percent from North America, and the other 10 percent is from the rest of the world. Volvo's flagship models tend to be luxurious, while their entry-level models are not.