Volvo introduced its own child booster seat in 1978.
The booster cushion was designed for children who had outgrown a rear-facing child seat but were still too small for an adult-sized seat belt to fit correctly. Raising the child’s seating position helps the lap and shoulder portions of a three-point belt sit across stronger parts of the body rather than the abdomen or neck.
Volvo’s child-safety work developed in stages. The company introduced a rear-facing child seat in 1972, followed by a second-generation version in 1975. The 1978 booster cushion extended that approach to older children and was promoted as a world first by Volvo.
The year is sometimes confused with 1964, when Volvo developed an early rear-facing child-seat concept, or with 1990, associated with later integrated booster-seat developments. A booster cushion is not the same as a complete child seat: it positions the child for the vehicle’s existing belt, rather than replacing the belt with a separate harness system.