Volvo Cars to axe 1,000 jobs to cut costs

22 Feb 2013

Swedish carmaker Volvo Car Corp has said that it would cut 1,000 jobs this year as part of its plan to save up to 1.5 billion Swedish kroner ($234 million).

In an interview with Swedish television channel SVT, Volvo's chief executive Hakan Samuelsson said that the company will lay off primarily consultants and white-collar workers.

Last year, the carmaker slashed 1,100 jobs, primarily agency and factory workers.

Gothenburg-based company manufactures a range of automobiles including SUVs, station wagons, and sedans. The company's largest markets are in the US, Sweden, China, Germany and the UK.

US auto giant Ford Motor Co acquired Volvo Car in 2010, and later sold it to China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group during the same year.

Geely had said that it would accomplish a major revamp of the Swedish automaker by investing around $11 billion to double the company's production target to 800,000 cars by 2020.