Swedish Battery Maker Northvolt to Lay Off 20% of Workforce Due to Slow EV Demand

TapTechNews September 23rd news, Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt AB announced that it will globally lay off 20% of its workforce and suspend the expansion plan of its main plant located in northern Sweden to deal with the financing crisis due to the slowdown in electric vehicle demand.

The layoff plan involves 1600 positions and is part of the strategic review announced by the company earlier this month. The company is negotiating a new financing agreement with lending banks and investors. In January this year, Northvolt obtained a $5 billion green loan, bringing its total debt and equity investment to more than $13 billion. The company is attempting to establish a local electric vehicle battery supply chain in Europe.

However, since the beginning of this year, Northvolt has faced increasing pressure in expanding its business scale. The slowdown in electric vehicle demand, fierce competition from Chinese manufacturers, and a series of health and safety issues have made the company's business more tense.

The layoffs will be distributed in Northvolt's Skelleftea plant (1000 positions), Vasteras plant (400 positions), and Stockholm (200 positions). The company said that all layoffs need to be negotiated with the union.

Northvolt CEO Peter Carlsson said: We need to ensure that we take the right actions when responding to the headwinds in the automotive market and the broader industrial environment.

Northvolt is a Swedish battery manufacturer founded in 2016 and is a new energy company in Stockholm, Sweden, founded by the Volkswagen Group, Goldman Sachs, and Siemens. In July this year, Northvolt announced the results of the 2023 fiscal year. The data shows that Northvolt's revenue increased to $128 million, but the loss amount expanded from $284 million to $1.167 billion (TapTechNews note: currently about 8.231 billion Chinese yuan).