Volvo Cuts 3,000 Jobs As It Dials Down EV Ambitions

Volvo Cars announced plans to cut around 3,000 administrative jobs worldwide as part of major cost-cutting efforts.

The move comes as the Swedish automaker faces rising costs and a tougher market environment especially with the company dialing down on its electric vehicle (EV) ambition.

The job cuts will affect about 15% of Volvo's office-based workforce, with most of the affected roles based in Sweden. The company is owned by Chinese group Geely.

Volvo CEO Håkan Samuelsson said the company arrived at this difficult decision to remain competitive. “The auto industry is going through a challenging time,” he said. “We need to reduce our structural costs to adapt.”

In April, Volvo revealed weak Q1 results and said it would aim to save around SEK18 Billion (RM8 Billion).

However, these savings will come at a short-term cost of about SEK1.5 Billion (RM600 Million) will be booked in the second quarter as part of the restructuring cost (compensations).

Volvo has been an early adopter of EVs, but rising battery material costs have hit profitability.

The company now plans to shift more focus toward plug-in hybrids, as its EV rollout is being dialled down. In Q1 2025, EVs only made up 19% of Volvo's sales - down from 21% in Q1 2024.

Samuelsson, who returned as CEO in April after the sudden departure of Jim Rowan, further added that it is difficult to make a clear financial outlook at this period especially with current global uncertainty over US tariffs.