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As Volvo Sales Worsen, Job Cuts May Expand

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The Associated Press

Published: September 13, 2008

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Volvo Cars said Friday it may have to cut 900 more jobs in Sweden in 2009 as the global car market continues to deteriorate.

The unit of Ford Motor Co. also said it will hasten the announced cancellation of the third shift at its plant in Goteborg, western Sweden, to October.

It had previously planned to eliminate the shift, involving about 700 employees, in December. The shift closure was part of a broader layoff of some 1,200 staff announced in June.

"The rapid decline of market conditions in Europe over the past months, in combination with the difficult U.S. market and a slowdown of growth in emerging markets, has resulted in a significant impact on the car industry as a whole," Volvo Cars said in a statement.

"The effect on the premium car market has been substantial, with sales volumes deteriorating even more rapidly than in the volume market."

The Goteborg-based company, which Ford bought in 1999, has been struggling against a weak U.S. dollar, rising raw material prices and declining demand. In the first half of 2008 it reported a loss of about $247 million.

Cash-strapped Ford was seeking buyers for Volvo last year, but the Dearborn, Mich., automaker said in November that Volvo was no longer for sale. Last week it named veteran executive Stephen Odell as new president and chief executive officer of Volvo, effective Oct. 1.

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