The Swedish car manufacturer Volvo Cars continues to struggle with the tough environment in the industry. Last year, sales and revenue fell noticeably, and the bottom line was that the company controlled by the Chinese Geely Group even slipped into the red. The loss was around three billion Swedish crowns (281 million euros), as Volvo boss Hakan Samuelsson (74) had to admit on Thursday in Gothenburg.
The weak result is immediately noticeable on the stock market. Volvo Cars’ shares collapsed and were recently down more than 20 percent.
The share price continued its downward trend from the previous weeks. The strong recovery towards the end of last year, which at its peak saw the price double, is now history. At the current level, the value is back in the same range as at the beginning of the previous year.
Depreciation, customs duties and conversion costs burden Volvo
The weak result was due to restructuring costs for job cuts, but also high write-offs for late models and US tariffs. A year earlier, Volvo had made a profit of almost 16 billion crowns. There was a loss in the fourth quarter of 2025. In addition, the results in day-to-day business were significantly weaker than experts expected.
In 2025, the car manufacturer delivered 710,000 cars to customers, 7 percent less than the year before. In the new year, Samuelsson wants to sell more cars again and the free cash flow should improve significantly. “Our actions in 2025 have put us on a path back to growth,” the manager said, according to the statement. “We are convinced of our long-term strategy and our clear direction.” Among other things, Volvo has cut 3,000 jobs. At least an additional 5 billion crowns are expected to be saved in the new year.
Bernstein experts: “Big step backwards”
In the fourth quarter, sales slipped by 16 percent to 94.4 billion crowns. Earnings before interest and taxes fell by just over half to 1.9 billion crowns. With both values, Volvo clearly missed analysts’ estimates. The group cited the reasons for this as a less favorable sales mix and lower prices, falling sales and also the stronger crown as a burden.
With these results, Volvo significantly missed analysts’ estimates. The experts at Bernstein spoke of a “major step backwards”. The operating profit (EBIT) missed consensus estimates by 50 percent. The Swedes’ outlook appears ambitious given ongoing headwinds from the currency side and other negative factors.