Volvo to axe 3,300 more jobs

Volvo plans to shed 3,300 jobs in addition to cuts announced earlier this year due to a drastic decline in auto markets.

Volvo Car Corp, owned by US automaker Ford Motor Co, said on Wednesday it plans to shed 3,300 jobs in addition to cuts announced earlier this year due to a drastic decline in auto markets.

The Sweden-based car maker, which is grappling with weak demand and surging raw material costs, said 2,700 jobs would be cut in Sweden while 600 would go in its operations abroad.

“To meet the rapidly deteriorating market situation in the global car industry, the management team at Volvo Car Corporation has decided to initiate further structural changes in all parts of the business,” the company said in a statement.

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In June, Volvo Cars unveiled plans to slash 2,000 jobs and shut down the third shift at its Torslanda auto plant in southwest Sweden at the end of this year.

Last month, it said it would bring forward the closure of the shift to October from December and estimated it would also need to cut an additional 900 jobs next year due to a worsening of market conditions in Europe.

Volvo said the new measures also included terminating contracts with 700 consultants in addition to 500 such cancellations already announced.

“The total redundancy actions now planned to be initiated account for 6,000 people worldwide, of which 1,200 are consultants,” Volvo said.

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“The unstable economic environment has resulted in a very unpredictable situation, and the downturn in the global car industry is more drastic than expected,” Volvo Car Corporation Chief Executive Stephen Odell said in the statement.