Latest news with #MarieMannes
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Volvo Cars pauses sales of some cars in US as tariffs pinch profits
By Marie Mannes STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Volvo Cars said it has scaled back its U.S. model lineup this year, among the first examples of a major automaker halting U.S. shipments as President Donald Trump's tariffs make it harder to sell a broad range of vehicles profitably. The Swedish carmaker, which is owned by China's Geely Holding, told Reuters this week that it has been pulling sedans and station wagons from its U.S. portfolio as interest has waned. Volvo, which releases quarterly results on Thursday, is one of the most exposed automakers to rising tariffs as the majority of its vehicles are produced in Europe or China. Import duties on vehicles made outside of the United States that were imposed on April 1 have made market conditions more challenging for foreign sellers to the U.S. market. U.S. tariffs of 27.5% on European-made cars and over 100% on Chinese imports have forced automakers to rethink their product strategies, with Aston Martin limiting U.S. exports and Nissan suspending U.S. production of Canadian-bound cars. Industry experts have warned that automakers that cannot absorb the cost of border taxes themselves or pass it on to consumers will simply stop selling those models in the U.S. market. Other industries, such as apparel and toys, are experiencing similar effects. "If you're going to reduce sales to the U.S., then you'd want to eke more value out of the sales that you do," said Andy Leyland, co-founder of supply chain specialists SC Insight. Volvo Cars will now only sell around half of its 13-model global lineup in the U.S. market. Other than its V60 station wagon, it will exclusively sell SUVs in the country. That means that sedans will no longer be sold in the U.S. Production of the S60 at Volvo's South Carolina plant stopped last year, sales of the China-made S90 have been halted and Volvo said on Monday the new ES90 sedan cannot be sold profitably in the country. Globally, it is also dropping one of its last remaining station wagons, the V90, as demand declines. Volvo Cars told Reuters its European-made electric EX40 had also been temporarily halted, but it would resume sales "shortly". The company did not provide a reason. Even Volvo's ambitions for its flagship budget SUV, the EX30 - meant to be a big U.S. seller - have been curtailed. Volvo only offers the pricier dual-motor version at $46,195 to U.S. buyers rather than the cheaper single-motor version, with a promised sticker price of $35,000, similar to Tesla's Model 3. When faced with tariffs, carmakers tend to focus on selling high-margin models, but Andy Palmer, former CEO of Aston Martin, said such a strategy could have mixed results. "Some (customers) will either go to a different company" or be forced to buy a model "they didn't necessarily want or need," Palmer said. Bill Wallace, owner of Wallace Automotive Group that sells Volvos in Florida confirmed shoppers are quick to pick other brands. "At the end of the day, even with a luxury model, they are going to compare their payment with a BMW, Lexus or a similar model ... and if it's a little bit higher ... you're just gonna lose the business," he said. Since 2022, Volvo has been hit by software bugs, supply chain snags, and tariff-related delays that slowed the rollout of its flagship electric EX30 and EX90. By the time deliveries began in 2024, EV demand had cooled, prices had spiked and new tariffs had kicked in. "Customers love them(Volvo), but they are just at the wrong place at the wrong time right now, Wallace said. Although it is produced at Volvo's U.S. factory in South Carolina, the high-end EX90 is hurt by tariffs because most of its components are European-made, which are now subject to 25% tariffs. The EX90 starts at $81,290 but struggled to gain traction with U.S. consumers, with less than 2,000 sold in the first half of 2025. Its South Carolina factory can make up to 150,000 of the cars annually. The company said on Wednesday it would add its popular SUV XC60 hybrid to the factory in 2026. ($1 = 9.7454 Swedish crowns) 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
The Star
01-07-2025
- Business
- The Star
US startup Lyten to take over Northvolt's energy storage systems factory in Poland
A logo is displayed on battery maker Northvolt's energy storage system plant in Gdansk, Poland, October 21, 2024. REUTERS/Marie Mannes/File Photo WARSAW (Reuters) -Silicon Valley startup Lyten will take full ownership of Northvolt Dwa ESS, Europe's largest energy storage systems factory, in a move to expand its product line, the U.S. company said on Tuesday. Northvolt filed for bankruptcy in March, one of Sweden's largest corporate failures and effectively ending Europe's best hope of developing a rival to challenge Chinese battery makers. It announced the factory's closure in November last year. "We plan to immediately restart operations in Poland and deliver on existing and new customer orders," Dan Cook, Lyten CEO and co-founder, said in a statement. The 25,000 square metre (269,000 square feet) battery energy storage system manufacturing and R&D facility in Gdansk, Poland, opened in 2023. The facility includes equipment for up to 6 gigawatt-hours of energy storage manufacturing capacity and the footprint to expand to 10 GWh in the future, Lyten said in a statement, adding that it had contracted orders extending into 2026. The financial terms of the transaction, which is expected to be completed in the third quarter, were not disclosed. (Reporting by Anna Koper and Marek Strzelecki. Editing by Mark Potter)
Japan Today
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Japan Today
U.S. urges Americans in Sweden to remain vigilant, citing threat of attack
By Kanishka Singh and Marie Mannes The U.S. embassy in Sweden said on Monday Americans in the country are "advised to exercise increased caution" due to local media reports on Iran potentially pressuring local criminal gangs to attack U.S. and Israeli interests. Washington struck Iran's nuclear sites over the weekend and Iran targeted a U.S. base in Qatar on Monday in retaliation. The U.S. State Department on Sunday issued a worldwide caution security alert for Americans living overseas. Analysts have warned that Iran, with its military weakened by Israeli strikes, could retaliate in non-traditional ways, including by activating proxy groups against American and Israeli interests worldwide. U.S. ally Israel's war with Iran began on June 13 when Israel struck Iran. The air war raised alarms in a region that was already on edge since the start of Israel's war in Gaza in late 2023. "Swedish media reports that Iran may be pressuring local criminal gangs, including the Foxtrot Network, to carry out attacks in Sweden against U.S. and Israeli interests. U.S. citizens in Sweden are advised to exercise increased caution," the U.S. embassy in Sweden said in a security alert. The alert was issued before President Donald Trump said on Monday Iran and Israel had agreed to a ceasefire. It urged Americans in Sweden to avoid crowds and demonstrations and keep a low profile. The Swedish criminal gang Foxtrot was accused in April by Britain of committing violence against Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe on behalf of Iran's government, a claim Iran rejected. Washington sanctioned the group in March. The embassy's alert did not identify the report it was quoting. A report by the Swedish public broadcaster on Sunday said Foxtrot and its leader were in the past few days pressured to carry out new attacks against Israelis and Americans. Sweden has suffered from a wave of gang-related violence for over a decade, including in recent months against buildings linked to Israelis or Israeli business. A Sunday advisory from the U.S. government warned of a heightened domestic threat environment. © Thomson Reuters 2025.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Volvo Cars to slash 3,000 jobs in white-collar cutback
By Marie Mannes and Anna Ringstrom STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Volvo Cars will cut 3,000 mostly white-collar jobs as part of a restructuring announced last month as it grapples with high costs, a slowdown in electric vehicle demand and trade uncertainty, it said on Monday. The layoffs come as the Swedish automaker tries to resurrect its rock-bottom share price and drum up better demand for its cars by restructuring part of its business and cutting costs. CEO Hakan Samuelsson, who was recently brought back to the role after heading the company for a decade until 2022, unveiled a programme in April to slash costs by 18 billion Swedish crowns ($1.9 billion), including a substantial cut to its white-collar staff, who make up 40% of its workforce. "It's white collar in almost all areas, including R&D, communication, human resources," Samuelsson told Reuters on Friday, "So it's everywhere, and it's a considerable reduction." "I think it will be very healthy, and will save us money and give space for people to (take on) bigger responsibilities." Volvo Cars' new CFO Fredrik Hansson told Reuters that while all of its departments and locations would be impacted, most of the redundancies will happen in Gothenburg. "It's tailored to make us structurally more efficient, and then how that plays out might vary a bit depending on the area. But no stone is left unturned," Hansson said. The layoffs represent around 15% of the company's office staff, Volvo Cars said in a statement, and would incur a one-time restructuring cost of 1.5 billion crowns. With most of its production based in Europe and China, Volvo Cars is more exposed to new U.S. tariffs than many of its European rivals, and has said it could become impossible to export its most affordable cars to the U.S. The company said in a press release that it would finalise a new structural set-up by the autumn of this year. Handelsbanken analyst Hampus Engellau said the number of staff to be laid off was in line with expectations, and that the company's move to streamline its operations was positive. The group withdrew its financial guidance as it announced its cost cuts last month, pointing to unpredictable markets amid weaker consumer confidence and trade tariffs causing turmoil in the global auto industry. On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 50% tariff on imports from the European Union from June 1, but on Monday he backed away from that date, restoring a July 9 deadline to allow for talks between Washington and Brussels. Volvo Cars' shares were up 3.6% by 1339 GMT on Monday, with most of the rise coming before the layoff announcement. They are still down 24% year-to-date. ($1 = 9.4829 Swedish crowns) 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
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Volvo Cars to cut 5% of jobs at South Carolina plant as tariffs bite
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Volvo Cars said on Wednesday it would make production changes and cut 5% of the workforce at its Charleston plant in the United States due to changing market conditions and evolving trade policies, including tariffs. A spokesperson for Volvo Cars said the changes would affect about 125 of the 2,500 employees at its factory in South Carolina. It was not immediately clear which positions would be affected or how the cuts would affect production at the plant in Charleston. Volvo Cars, which is majority-owned by China's Geely Holding, said it remained committed to creating 4,000 jobs in South Carolina and that it still planned to boost output there in the future. It added in an emailed statement that the cuts were not included in the upcoming redundancies flagged alongside its earnings for the first quarter last week, when it said it would slash costs by 18 billion Swedish crowns ($1.88 billion). Volvo Cars declined to comment on when it would be able to disclose more details around the upcoming job cuts. The carmaker said the United States remained a key part of its long-term strategy and that it was focused on sharpening its U.S. product line-up and manufacturing. Volvo Cars has nearly 43,000 employees globally according to its 2024 annual report. Some 29,000 are in Europe, around 10,000 in Asia and 3,000 in the Americas region. While the Charleston factory has a capacity to produce 150,000 cars annually, it currently only makes the EX90 electric SUV and Polestar's model 3 with most cars imported from Europe. In an April retail sales update the company said it had sold 1,316 EX90s in the U.S. year to date. ($1 = 9.5804 Swedish crowns) (Reporting by Marie Mannes; Editing by Louise Breusch Rasmussen, Tomasz Janowski and Kate Mayberry)
