Volvo Cars to shed 1,000 jobs

Volvo Cars, which is owned by Chinese auto maker Geely, is to cut up to 1,000 jobs by the end of the year, the company's chief executive told Sweden's public broadcaster SVT on Wednesday. "You have to adjust to reality," Hakan Samuelsson said in an interview. A spokesman for the company, Per-Aake Froeberg, told Swedish radio that "by the end of the year, there will be 1,000 fewer of us." The company axed 1,100 positions last year, most of whom were working in its assembly plants. By contrast, most of those affected by Wednesday's announcement would be white collar workers, SVT said. Volvo Cars said in September it employed 22,400 people. The troubled car maker will soon launch a 1.5 billion kronor (178 million euros or $239 million) cost cutting drive, after sales dipped by 18 percent in January, the Swedish broadcaster wrote on its website. The Gothenburg-based company sold 422,000 cars in 2012, which was six percent fewer than the year before. The European market was especially tough, dipping by 10 percent. Volvo Cars was acquired in 2010 by the Chinese maker Geely, but the Swedish brand has since seen its market share decline and profits dwindle. Geely exports vehicles to more than 40 developing countries in eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia.