Volvo’s sub-brand Polestar was planned as a competitor to Tesla. A similar battle did not happen with the Americans, but the shares owned by Volvo will now be fully owned by the owner of the Swedish brand, Geely Holding.
The Swedish brand Volvo is in crisis, writes the German publication Focus. The main reason is the sub-brand Polestar, which did not survive the “challenging market conditions” and the intended competition with Tesla. As the situation develops when the market demand for electric vehicles falls, relatively small manufacturers such as Polestar, which have no other equipment in their offer, find themselves in the most difficult situation.
Polestar is now enjoying it to the fullest, with Volvo also “pulling along”. To save the situation, according to experts, Polestar will need about 1 billion dollars in the next 12 months and about 15 percent layoffs. Volvo cannot afford such an amount, so all Polestar shares (Volvo owned 48 percent) will be transferred to Geely, but Polestar has announced that it will lay off approximately 15% (approximately 450) of its employees.
Volvo, meanwhile, is struggling – the Swedish marque, which is 79 percent owned by Geely Holding, laid off 1,300 workers last year, and the manufacturer has to contend with software glitches that plague the new EX90. But there is also good news – in the fourth quarter of 2023, Volvo’s operating profit increased by 644 million US dollars.
Volvo still adheres to an ambitious plan – by 2025, half of all delivered vehicles must have an electric drive, while market analysts have recorded the fact that the demand for electric cars in Germany, Europe’s largest market, fell by 16 percent this year – for the first time since the continuous growth of 2016.
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2024-02-03 03:35:41
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