Volvo Cars says it will stop night shift production in Swedish plant, cut jobs
The Associated PressPublished: May 19, 2008

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STOCKHOLM, Sweden: Ford-owned Volvo Cars said Monday it plans to stop night shift production of cars in its Torslanda plant in western Sweden, which could result in up to 700 layoffs.

Volvo Car Corporation spokeswoman Maria Bohlin said it is too early to say how many employees would have to leave their jobs, but that around 700 people are currently working night shifts at the plant.

"We have too much capacity in Torslanda. The decision will be taken fairly soon and my assessment is that we will decide to enter negotiations with the union about stopping the third shift sometime around the turn of the year. Whether it will be in December or January remains to be seen," the chief executive officer of Volvo Cars, Fredrik Arp, was quoted as saying by local daily Goteborgsposten.

"We don't have the luxury to have 500 employees who aren't occupied for the day," he added.

Volvo will reduce the pace of production at the plant from 51 cars to 44 cars per hour at the end of June, Bohlin said.