Car manufacturer Volvo Cars, owned by the Chinese Geely group, will cut 3,000 jobs (about 7% of its total workforce), primarily in Sweden. It’s a decision as part of the cost-cutting announced at the end of April. The goal is “to make Volvo cars more resilient in an era where the automotive industry is confronted with considerable challenges in its external environment.”
According to the company, some 1,200 jobs will disappear from the Swedish workforce, while about 1,000 consultants, who mainly do their counseling work in Sweden, are also concerned. The jobs disappearing will be primarily office jobs (representing 15% of this type of job). Where the other 800 jobs will disappear will be decided and communicated later, apparently.
The structural changes, which must cut costs by €1.6 billion, will be fully implemented in the fall of 2025. As a result of today’s announcement, Volvo Cars anticipates it will incur a one-time restructuring cost of up to SEK 1.5 bn (€139 million). This cost will affect the company’s financial results for the second quarter of 2025, with the effects realised from the fourth quarter of 2025 and into 2026. More details will be shared when the company presents those results on July 17.
Difficult environment
“The automotive industry is in a difficult phase,” says Håkan Samuelsson, CEO of Volvo Cars, who returned recently to the top job after retiring a few years ago. In the States, Volvo is confronted with the import tariffs of the Trump administration for cars not manufactured there. Therefore, Samuelsson wants to increase the number of vehicles built in the United States and has announced that a new model will be assembled soon in Volvo’s South-Carolina plant.
“The actions announced today have been difficult decisions, but they are important steps as we build a stronger and even more resilient Volvo Cars,” said Samuelsson. “The automotive industry is in the middle of a challenging period. We must improve our cash flow generation and structurally lower our costs to address this. At the same time, we will continue to ensure the development of the talent we need for our ambitious future.” This future is still building a portfolio of all-electric cars. That hasn’t changed.
In the first quarter of 2025, Volvo saw its sales drop by 6% and its turnover by 12%. The operational margin shrank to 2.3%, resulting in a net benefit of only 1 billion Swedish crowns (€91 million). Samuelsson called these quarterly results utterly disappointing.
And Volvo Ghent?
There are no signs yet that the workforce at the plant in Ghent is also concerned. Volvo recently moved production of the small EX30 EV to Ghent, also to avoid the special European surtaxes on Chinese-built EVs. Volvo has hired an additional workforce in Ghent to cope with the production increase, so there are no signs of people losing their jobs in Belgium yet.
The factory management in Ghent has communicated to its personnel that no workers will be fired. Volvo Ghent employs around 6,500 people, only 600 of them have office jobs.
