Just days after beginning layoffs in China, Volvo Cars has now cut around 15% of its commercial workforce in the US as it continues to grapple with the impact of tariffs and weaker than expected demand.
The reduction was not publicly announced.
Automotive News reported on Thursday, citing a person familiar with the matter, that the carmaker has cut roughly 60 jobs, primarily at its headquarters in Mahwah, New Jersey.
“Volvo Cars is taking measures to become a leaner, more efficient organization with a structurally lower cost base,” a Volvo spokesperson said in a statement. The reduction “will better position us to build a profitable … future for the Americas region and for Volvo Cars overall.”
The company announced in early May that “given external developments and increased uncertainties”, it is “no longer providing financial guidance for 2025 and 2026.”
The Sweden-based automaker intends to “complete the structural changes during the autumn of 2025,” as it is “firm on its ambition of becoming a fully electric car company.”
The carmaker had announced in May plans to cut 3,000 jobs as part of its recently launched “cost and cash action plan.”
The global layoffs mostly concern administrative and strategic departments, primarily office-based positions in Sweden — representing around 15% of the “total office-based workforce globally,” according to the brand.
Last month, Volvo Cars sold 62,858 vehicles, the fourth consecutive month that the company’s sales have dropped by more than 10% year over year.
Despite battery electric vehicles representing 22% of the total vehicles sold, global EV sales fell 26% compared to the same month last year.
From the nearly 62,900 vehicles sold globally, 13,569 were sold in China — meaning that 21.6% of Volvo‘s global sales were in the Asian country. However, sales in China have dropped 3% from a year ago.
As of the end of 2024, Volvo Cars had 42,600 full time employees globally.
