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Volvo Cars announced on May 4 that it plans to cut about 1300 office employees in Sweden to cut costs and may take further steps in the coming months to improve costs and efficiency in its global operations. Volvo Personvagnar, Volvo's global operations unit, will cut about 1100 jobs, while the remaining 200 will be determined after an evaluation of the company's Swedish entity. As of December 2022, Volvo Cars has about 43200 full-time employees worldwide, and the layoffs account for about 6% of the total number of employees.

On April 28, Volvo Cars released its first quarter 2023 performance report. During the reporting period, Volvo's operating revenue increased by 29% year-on-year to SEK 95.7 billion, operating profit increased by 7% year-on-year to SEK 63, and EBIT margin was 6.6%, although it declined from 6.8% in 2022, but it ranked first among second-tier luxury brands.

The substantial growth of operating income and operating profit is inseparable from the support of sales volume. In the first quarter of 2023, Volvo Cars sold 162,900 vehicles worldwide, up 9.9% year-on-year. Data show that the mainland of China is Volvo's largest single market, with cumulative sales of 36,500 vehicles in the first quarter, up 2.1% year-on-year, while European market grew 11.5% year-on-year and US market grew 16.4% year-on-year.

Volvo Cars CEO Jim Rowan said: "Economic headwinds, rising raw material prices and increased competition are likely to remain challenges for our industry, and while Volvo's cost-cutting initiatives have paid off, there is still a lot to be done."

Manufacturers such as Volvo Cars have begun to shed chronic supply chain shortages that have had a severe impact on car production and pushed up production costs over the past few years. Volvo Cars said its current production situation has improved, but it still faces some shortages, which will continue to affect production in the second quarter.

In addition to Volvo, GM has also been exposed to layoffs. GM laid off hundreds of contract workers at its Global Technology Center in Warren and elsewhere on April 30 in an effort to cut $2 billion in budget by the end of next year, the Detroit Free Press reported. It is reported that the layoffs involve mainly product research and development positions, while the layoffs department has thousands of engineers, designers and other employees. GM spokeswoman Maria Raynal confirmed Saturday that the company laid off "hundreds" of contract workers, most of them full-time. Although GM did not specify the reasons for the layoffs, it can be seen from the current development trend of the automobile industry that the number of employees required in the transformation process between electric and intelligent may become less.

On February 14, Ford announced that it would cut 3800 jobs in Europe over the next three years, including 2300 in Germany and 1300 in Britain. Ford said high inflation, rising interest rates and energy costs had prompted job cuts, which could help Ford "revitalize its European operations."

Industry insiders believe that the weak British car market and electric transformation are also important reasons for Ford's layoffs. In the era of electric cars, less labor will be needed. For General Motors, it is also accelerating its electric transformation. GM is scheduled to stop making the Chevrolet Bolt electric car at the end of this year, and the Orion, Michigan plant that makes the model will be revamped to start producing electric versions of Silverado and Sierra pickup trucks next year.

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