Volvo Trucks to Cut U.S. Production

Swedish truck and bus maker Volvo AB said Thursday it is laying off some U.S. workers, furloughing others and throttling back on engine and transmission production due to slow sales.

The company will cut transmission production by a third and engine production by 25 percent at its powertrain plant in Hagerstown, effective Jan. 5, plant spokeswoman Ilse Ghysens said.

She said there would be layoffs in Hagerstown, but the number hasn't been determined. "That is exactly what is being discussed with the United Auto Workers," Ghysens said.

UAW officials didn't immediately return telephone calls Thursday from The Associated Press.

The Hagerstown plant employs about 1,260 workers building heavy engines, gearboxes and driveshafts for Volvo brands. The company makes Volvo, Renault, Mack and Nissan Diesel vehicles.

The production cutback was first reported by The (Hagerstown) Herald-Mail.

Volvo also has scheduled three, weeklong shutdowns of its New River Valley truck assembly plant in Dublin, Va., said James A. McNamara, a spokesman for Volvo Trucks North America. He said the company laid off about 1,000 workers there in May and hopes to avoid additional layoffs by halting production during the weeks of Jan. 5, Feb. 16 and March 9.

Ghysens said no production shutdowns are planned in Hagerstown beside the traditional, two-week halt at year end and another traditional, two-week halt in the summer.

On Wednesday, Volvo announced plans to lay off 180 employees at its Mack Trucks factory near Allentown, Pa., and extend its annual end-of-year shutdown for an extra week at that site because of slow orders.

The cuts announced this week follow layoffs of more than 1,000 powertrain workers, including 65 in Hagerstown, in November. The other November job cuts were in the Swedish cities of Skovde, Goteborg and Koping.

Earlier in the year, Volvo announced layoffs of 2,000 workers at truck plants in Belgium and Sweden and 1,350 workers at its construction equipment unit.

Volvo is based in Gothenburg, Sweden, with North American headquarters in Greensboro, N.C.

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