Volvo Cars plans to lay off 5% of workers at Ridgeville plant, spokesperson confirms
RIDGEVILLE, S.C. (WCBD) — Volvo Cars plans to lay off approximately 5% of employees at its Ridgeville plant as it restructures its U.S. operations, a spokesperson confirmed Monday.
The spokesperson said the decision was made in response to 'changing market conditions and evolving trade policies,' including tariffs.
'Our aim is to support impacted employees, protect as many jobs as possible and secure Volvo Cars' long-term future in the US, balancing our investments with the need to reduce costs and improve efficiency,' they wrote in a statement to News 2.
The Swedish-based company broke ground on its Berkeley County plant in 2015 as its first U.S. manufacturing facility. The plant currently employs about 2,5000 people.
The layoff announcement comes less than week after CEO Hakan Samuelsson unveiled the company's 'cost and cash action plan' as part of a push to streamline production, Reuters reported.
This story is developing and will be updated.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Boston Globe
13 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
The Trump administration canceled an $87 million award for this MIT startup. But life goes on.
Advertisement On May 20, Suffolk Technologies, a venture capital arm of Boston-based Suffolk Construction, announced it had invested an unspecified amount of money in Sublime and pre-purchased some of the cement that will be made in Holyoke. Two days later, Sublime announced an agreement with Microsoft in which the software giant will buy more than 620,000 metric tons of Sublime cement over up to nine years. Last fall, two of the world's largest cement suppliers, Holcim and CRH, together invested $75 million in the company. The company has also raised $45 million in venture capital funding, including from Lowercarbon Capital and Engine Ventures. And on Thursday, Sublime disclosed a roster of nine construction companies, including Suffolk, that have agreed to act as sales partners to pitch Advertisement The Holyoke factory is expected to be completed in 2027 and provide jobs for at least 70 people after it opens. The plant will still get some subsidies, including $47 million in federal tax credits that remain in place, $1.05 million in state tax credits, and $351,000 in local property tax breaks. Site work has begun in Holyoke, but not construction of the actual building. Joe Hicken, senior vice president of business development at Sublime, declined to say what kind of impact, if any, the Department of Energy's action will have on the project's timing. He noted that Sublime's mission dovetails with the Trump administration's goal of boosting American manufacturing. 'If anything, that termination letter is one data point,' Hicken said. 'We have many other data points associated with commercial movement [and] for every plan that we talk about publicly, we have 10 backup plans waiting for their day to shine.' Builders such as those at Suffolk and Consigli Construction in Milford have come to appreciate the technology developed by Sublime cofounders Leah Ellis and Yet-Ming Chiang. The process they developed replaces traditional kilns with electrolysers that make cement from calcium sources, avoiding the intense release of carbon dioxide from the super-heating of limestone used to make most cement. So far, Sublime's production has been limited to small test batches, including a foundation section included in the new building WS Development finished for Amazon in the Seaport. Consigli vice president Todd McCabe said his company signed up to sell Sublime cement because its executives are always looking for ways to build more sustainably and efficiently, and Sublime's clean cement will help with that. Advertisement At Suffolk, executives decided to buy equity in Sublime. Suffolk followed the startup soon after its 2020 inception. As Sublime moved closer to commercialization, Suffolk chief technology officer Jit Kee Chin decided it was the right time to invest. 'They're getting to the point where it's about to go to market,' Chin said. 'Really, it's no longer a science experiment. ... This is the right time for us to go in and really support them.' Chin said many of Suffolk's clients are keenly interested in Sublime's goal of creating a cost-effective, low-carbon cement that's just as effective as traditional cement, known as portland cement. The news about Sublime losing the federal award came as a disappointment to Ben Downing, the chief strategist at the Engine, a nonprofit startup accelerator affiliated with MIT and with VC firm Engine Ventures. Although it's a significant amount of money, Downing has confidence that Sublime will be able to finish the Holyoke factory. 'We know there's a lot of chaos in Washington but we believe in the science and we believe in the team,' Downing said. 'It's bad news, but if any team is going to be able to respond to it and grow and scale it, they're going to find a way [and] I know Holyoke and Massachusetts will be better for it.' Jon Chesto can be reached at
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
London must ‘market its successes better' to avoid another Wise
Britain must emulate the success of Nasdaq and get better at trumpeting its business success stories if it wants to attract more companies to list in London, one of the UK's top fintech venture capital investors has said. Speaking to City AM the day that payments darling Wise revealed plans to ditch its primary listing for New York, Anthemis founder Amy Nauiokas said the London Stock Exchange (LSE) should try emulate the support promotion the US's tech-heavy bourse gives its new constituents. 'It's not brain surgery,' said Nauiokas, whose firm has been an early-stage backer of fintech success stories like Etoro, Zoopla and Tide. 'They [the LSE] need to promise UK entrepreneurs that there's a path here, and that they'll support them, build an ecosystem around them, and give the perks that the Nasdaq gives them.' London capital markets have been locked in a multi-year struggle to attract and retain some of its brightest companies. Since the start of 2024 alone, cherished listed firms like Darktrace, TUI and most DS Smith have all delisted or been taken private from the capital's stock market. And promising UK-headquartered scale-ups like Arm have opted to list in New York over London, with other darlings like Revolut and Klarna looking likely to follow suit. Departed firms have tended to cite London's stubbornly low valuations and lower liquidity relative to its US rivals, but Nauiokas argued that the lengths to which New York goes to promote and celebrate its new additions was just as important a factor. Commenting on the Nasdaq's custom of advertising its fresh listings in New York's Time Square, she said: 'Half the reason why people go there is so they get to see their their picture on 45th Street.' Her comments ring true with the rationale for ditching London given by Wise, which floated in the UK to great fanfare in 2021. Billionaire cofounder Kristo Kaarmannder said a US listing would help raise Wise's profile in the country as it joins the many London-based fintech giants looking to expand their services in the world's largest market. 'We believe the addition of a primary US listing would help us accelerate our mission and bring substantial strategic and capital market benefits to Wise and our owners,' he said in the firm's statement announcing its planned departure. Nauiokas, whose firm invests in start-ups in both the US and UK with offices in both New York and London, said she understood the Wise board's decision, adding that were she a secondary capital and pre-IPO dealmaker, she 'would probably say the best option right now was either a dual listing or a US-based IPO'. But despite the downbeat rhetoric surrounding the London Stock Exchange, she added that the ongoing political turmoil in America was something on which London – and Europe as a whole – should be poised to capitalise. 'It strikes me that all the opportunity is here [in London],' she said. 'This is a moment. A moment for investors to find great entrepreneurs and make money, but also a moment for regulatory navel gazing – government navel gazing – private partnership navel gazing – to say we could do something here. Let's do something.' Family offices and institutional money are increasingly looking to reduce the weighting of US assets in their portfolio in response to the capricious and unpredictable policy directives from the White House, Nauiokas said. Many ultra-rich families have re-weighted their portfolios from an '80/20 North America to Europe to now 50/50'. 'I'm super excited about the UK specifically. But it needs to take this moment of market geopolitical dislocation,' she said, adding: 'The LSE can do a much better job of reshaping its proposition, and the government needs to get rid of stamp duty on shares.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data


New York Post
3 hours ago
- New York Post
New Manhattan homes for menswear stores Charles Tyrwhitt, Tom Ford
London-based menswear store Charles Tyrwhitt is moving from 437 Madison Ave. to RFR Realty's 477 Madison, doubling its space in the process. Tyrwhitt signed for 3,800 square at the East 51st Street corner. The deal was handled for the landlord by MONA, a retail brokerage backed by RFR's Aby Rosen. Cushman & Wakefield acted for the tenant. Charles Tywhitt has a half-dozen Manhattan locations. Advertisement The building's offices are mostly leased. Recent signings include for Treville Capital and Fiera Capital. 477 Madison Ave. will be the new home menswear store Charles Tyrwhitt. One more Park Avenue office address has filled up. Advertisement Tom Ford Fashion signed a 10-year, 11,118 square-foot lease at SL Green's 500 Park Ave., bringing the landmarked, 201,000 square-foot building at East 59th Street to 100% leased. Tom Ford Fashion has signed a 10-year lease for 500 Park Ave., above. Brian Zak/NY Post Advertisement Other office tenants include The Georgetown Company, Vera Wang and Friedland Properties. Furniture store FRATO's flagship showroom is the retail tenant. Meanwhile, the former Hammacher Schlemmer headquarters building at 145 E. 57th St. can also boast 100% occupancy. Data Science Innovators took 5,067 square feet, landlord ABS Partners announced. Danish furniture maker Carl Hansen & Son replaced Hammacher Schlemmer on the retail floors.