Volvo Says the U.S. Has Been a Hard Market to Make Money In, With Its Plant at About 20% Capacity

Volvo Cars is being unusually frank about its American problem. InsideEVs collected comments from the company's third-quarter earnings call, which are also in the call transcript.

What executives said

• Chief commercial officer Erik Severinson said the U.S. «has proven to be a difficult market to find profitability». He pointed to consumer sentiment at a 50-year low.
• CEO Håkan Samuelsson said Volvo «should have realized» the tariffs were coming, according to InsideEVs. On the call he said Volvo needs to «localize more products to U.S.», starting at its Charleston-area plant early next year. InsideEVs also notes the U.S. is electrifying more slowly than Volvo expected.

The numbers

• Third-quarter operating loss: SEK 5.6 billion.
• Revenue fell to SEK 66.9 billion from SEK 86.4 billion.
• Volvo is cutting 2,500 jobs.
• Carindust, citing the SC Daily Gazette, says its South Carolina plant can build 150,000 cars a year but runs at about 20% of capacity. A second multi-powertrain model there is planned for around 2030.

Why it matters

Volvo is one of several European brands caught between U.S. tariffs and slower EV adoption. Carmakers with large U.S. factories face less tariff exposure on the cars they build there.