Since 2005, Volvo Cars Corporation has been building vehicles at Pininfarina Sverige AB’s Uddevalla plant due to a joint venture between the two companies. Some of the most sultry Volvo convertibles have been built at that plant, but things changed as time went on. Volvo became a major shareholder and in March 2011, the venture was ditched so the Swedish company could become the owner of Uddevalla. The announcement was made rather recently that by 2013, production at that plant will cease.
“The low volumes in the Uddevalla plant do not justify continued production” says Stefan Jacoby, President & CEO of Volvo Car Corporation. Jacoby went on to say that Volvo is currently figuring out where and when the next purpose-built convertible will enter into production. And even though he mentioned that the work done at the Uddevalla is excellent, he can’t seem to justify a plant that builds just one car. Last year, the plant only built 10,000 cars. “The production capacity in Uddevalla is currently only utilized to 65 percent.”
All the Pininfarina and Uddevalla employees will be offered further jobs will Volvo before or after the 2013 closing. Right now, 600 workers are employed there and all new jobs will happen inside Sweden. “The employees in Uddevalla are very skilled car builders. Therefore we hope that as many as possible will choose to join Volvo Car Corporation,” said Jacoby.
Source: Volvo
