The difficulties in the electric vehicle market are forcing the group to reduce its workforce.
The difficulties of the electric car market in Europe are plunging the players in the sector into uncertainty. The Swedish Northvolt, symbol of a purely European “pure player” in batteries, is paying the price. The group has just announced that it will reduce its activities and cut jobs. « We must take difficult steps to secure the foundations of Northvolt’s operations to improve our financial stability and strengthen our operating performance »said Peter Carlsson, CEO of Northvolt.
Northvolt has signed contracts with giants Volkswagen and BMW, but also with Volvo and Polestar, subsidiaries of the Chinese giant Geely. And the company was the first purely European player to produce battery cells for electric cars. This was at the beginning of 2022 in its Swedish factory in Skelleftea. It is precisely this factory, the only one currently operational, which is affected by the downsizing.
Also readVerkor completes financing of its electric battery gigafactory
Northvolt will focus on the production of battery cells, and put the cathode active materials activity, upstream of the cell, to sleep. « Necessary cost reductions will unfortunately include difficult decisions about the size of our workforce to meet needs » reduced activities, acknowledged Northvolt, which employed nearly 6,000 people at the end of 2023. The exact consequences on employment were not specified, however.
The group will also review the pace of its international development in Germany and Canada, where it had announced in recent months projects for giant factories worth several billion euros. « Potential revisions to the schedules for these projects will be confirmed during the fall, along with any other necessary cost-cutting measures. »the group further specified.
