Volvo is known worldwide as a leading brand in luxury and safety for automobiles and semi-trucks, but long before the invention of cars for consumers, Johan Munktell and brothers Jean Bolinder and Carl Bolinder began working on what would eventually become Volvo. Munktell manufactured the first tractor in all of Sweden in 1913 while the Bolinder brothers had been in the business of steam engine manufacturing since 20 years prior to the American Civil War. Once this team of engineering geniuses teamed up, they would begin to build a company that would become the gold standard for innovation in the industry. Volvo Construction Equipment was the first foreign company in history to invest in expanding to Korea, and today they operate factories and distributors all over Asia, North America and Europe. Volvo continues to expand to this day, dominating not only the automobile industry, but the heavy machinery for construction industry as well.