2,500 Jobs Cut as Volvo Cars Posts 5.6 Billion Kronor Q3 Loss
October 24, 2026 · Frisian News
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Volvo Cars reported an operating loss of 5.6 billion Swedish kronor in the third quarter of 2026 and plans to cut 2,500 jobs after China revenues fell almost 50% year-on-year and US tariffs compressed margins.
2,500 more jobs gone and an operating loss of 5.6 billion Swedish kronor ($563.7 million): Volvo Cars published its third-quarter results on October 23.
The reported operating loss reversed a profit of 6.4 billion kronor in the same period a year earlier, according to CNBC. On an adjusted basis, the loss reached 3.7 billion kronor, against a profit of 5.8 billion kronor in the prior year, the Straits Times reported. Citi analysts said the consensus forecast was for an adjusted loss of 724 million kronor, according to the Straits Times.
Revenues in China fell almost 50% year-on-year as premium brands faced what the company called "hypercompetition" from domestic rivals, which also put severe pressure on pricing. Volvo Cars is majority-owned by China's Geely Holding. "It's really a lot about the Chinese market, of course, where the change has come faster than we thought, and really now we can see that selling global cars developed in Europe and China will not work," chief executive Håkan Samuelsson told CNBC. He said Volvo needs "a new strategy in China... a more regional structure, a more empowered region, and we need regionally adapted cars."
The gross margin fell to 14.7% in the third quarter from 20.4% in 2025, the Straits Times reported, a drop of nearly 6 percentage points. In the United States, Volvo Cars cited fewer customer incentives to buy electric cars alongside tariff costs.
The 2,500 job cuts affect workers globally, with around 2,000 of those positions in Sweden, through consultant-contract terminations, natural attrition and targeted exit packages, the Straits Times reported. They come on top of 3,000 reductions already announced. Samuelsson told Reuters the new cuts should be complete by mid-2027, but he did not rule out further reductions if the turnaround falls short.
Volvo Cars said it would reduce indirect spending and variable costs by a further 5 billion kronor, on top of previously announced cost cuts of 23 billion kronor, the Straits Times reported. The company scrapped its full-year guidance for sales volume and cash flow earlier in October. Shares fell 24.2% on the day of the announcement, according to CNBC, and are down more than two-thirds in 2026, the Straits Times noted.
Samuelsson described the quarter as "very disappointing" and said the turnaround "needs a decisive reinforcement."
Sources
Published October 24, 2026 · Frisian News