The ailing Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt is fleshing out its savings program. The company wants to cut a total of 1,600 jobs at three locations, as Northvolt announced on Monday
. Skellefteå will be hit hardest with 1,000 jobs, another 400 will be lost in Västerås and around 200 jobs in Stockholm. It is said that the company is already negotiating with the unions about job cuts.
The company is officially sticking to the planned plant in Heide in Schleswig-Holstein. However, there may be delays Northvolt had already stated two weeks ago.
By adjusting its short-term goals and focusing on ramping up Northvolt Ett’s first 16 GWh phase, the company plans to prioritize its commitments to its current automotive customers. “We now have to concentrate all energy and investments on our core business. A successful ramp-up of production at Northvolt Ett is crucial to supplying our customers and enabling sustainable business operations,” says Northvolt founder and CEO Peter Carlsson (53), according to the statement.
The latest production records at Northvolt Ett show that the company is on the right track. The job cuts that have now been announced are “necessary for the future of Northvolt.” The downsizing of business operations and the job cuts are crucial to ensuring a sustainable operating and cost base. According to Northvolt, it currently employs 7,114 people.
Northvolt has recently had to contend with a series of setbacks. So has the car manufacturer BMW canceled a billion-dollar order for the company, like manager magazine
brought to the public. The reason for the decision was that Northvolt had difficulties fulfilling the contract. The company is behind schedule and produces too much scrap.
Northvolt is seen as one of Europe’s great hopes in the field of batteries for electric cars to catch up with Asian and US manufacturers. To date, Europe accounts for just three percent of global battery cell production. By the end of the decade, the market share is expected to increase to 25 percent.