"As a result of the sharp decline on world markets for heavy vehicles, the Volvo Group is being forced to implement new personnel reductions within its Swedish operations," the company said in a release. "A total of 1,543 employees are affected when Volvo Trucks, Volvo Construction Equipment, Volvo Penta and Volvo Powertrain today announced new layoffs," it added.
Volvo is Ford's Saab, only with a somewhat better overall financial situation. Both of the Swedish manufacturer are fighting for their survival and Volvo's rescue might lie to the East. A number of Chinese car manufacturers are rumored, for some time now, to have set their sights on the company, but no conclusive steps have yet been taken.
A recent report said that the American manufacturer might get anywhere in between $1 billion and $2 billion if it manages to sell Volvo, over $4 billion less than the Americans paid in 1999, when they acquired Volvo Cars.
It's a subject for debate whether Ford is so desperate to get rid of Volvo for that amount. Of course, no word from Ford yet, except the usual rhetoric: "We've had contact with a number of parties who've expressed interest concerning the future of Volvo. Ford's been pleased with the number and quality of those parties," John Gardiner, Ford's European director of strategic communications said.
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