Volvo’s US Job Cuts to Total 1,000 VTNA, Mack Employees
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Volvo Group’s North American truck operations are set to lay off about 1,000 employees in the coming weeks, CEO Martin Lundstedt said April 23.
Lundstedt dropped the bombshell in the final moments of the truck and bus maker’s first quarter of 2025 earnings call, revealing an additional 200 or so jobs would be cut at Volvo Trucks North America and Mack Trucks due to weak demand and economic uncertainty.
Around 800 staff were previously expected to be laid off at Volvo Group’s manufacturing facilities in Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
As many as 350 staff were laid off in early April at Volvo Trucks North America’s New River Valley assembly plant in Dublin, Va., the largest Volvo Group manufacturing plant in the world.
“This is due to reduced demand, particularly in our core longhaul segment, and because we are now past the critical phase in the ramp-up of our all-new VNL model,” a parent company spokeswoman told Transport Topics at the time.
A further 40 employees at Volvo Group’s Hagerstown, Md., powertrain plant were also being let go. The staff members were part of the team that manufactures engines, transmissions and axles for VTNA and Mack.
News emerged in mid-April that as many as 350 more employees at Mack’s Lehigh Valley Operations assembly plant would also be given their notice. Staff members were informed April 17 the cuts would take place over the following 90 days, TT learned.
A Volvo Group North America spokeswoman said April 23 the company was not providing any further breakdown on the cuts when contacted by TT.
Volvo Group cut its 2025 North American heavy-duty truck demand forecast as a result of the subdued appetite among customers. (Volvo Group)
Lundstedt conceded during the earnings call with analysts that Q1 had been eventful, particularly as the ongoing freight recession in North America and tariffs imposed by the Trump administration crimped demand for on-highway and vocational trucks alike.
Volvo Group cut its 2025 North American heavy-duty truck demand forecast as a result of the subdued appetite among customers. The Swedish company now expects demand in the U.S., Canada and Mexico to total 275,000 trucks from 300,000 trucks previously.
Lundstedt — who along with Chief Financial Officer Mats Backman was wearing a Mack bulldog lapel pin — said Volvo cut its forecast because of the impact of the tariffs and expectations of the so-called “pre-buy” evaporating.
Carriers were expected to ramp up purchasing of model year 2025 and 2026 trucks ahead of the arrival of stricter emissions regulations, which was colloquially known as the “pre-buy.”
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Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin on March 12 said the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles would be reconsidered. EPA also said the 2022 Heavy-Duty Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) rule would be re-evaluated.
North American customers ordered 10,217 VTNA and Mack trucks in Q1, up 6% compared with 9,620 in the first quarter of 2024, Volvo Group said in its earnings statement.
VTNA orders in the region slumped 33% to 4,621 from 6,909 a year earlier. Mack orders jumped 108% in Q1 to 5,851 from 2,685 in the year-ago period.
Sales by the two divisions in North America decreased by 5% to 14,315 trucks from 15,056. VTNA sales in North America fell 17% to 6,510 from 7,881. Mack sales in the region totaled 7,684 trucks, up 7% from 7,153 a year earlier.
VTNA’s heavy-duty truck market share fell to 7.2% from 9.1% a year earlier, hampered by changes related to the introduction of the redesigned flagship VNL on-highway tractor while Mack’s market share rose to 6.9% from 5.3% on the back of an improved supply chain and good vocational demand, the parent group said.
Serial production of the redesigned VNL tractor at the 2.3 million-square-foot New River Valley plant began in early October. VTNA opened the order book for the VNL in April 2024.
New River Valley underwent $400 million in upgrades ahead of the start of production of the revamped VNL, which was launched in January 2024.
VTNA unveiled an overhaul of its VNR regional haul tractor March 10, which will also be assembled at New River Valley.
Mack debuted a new flagship tractor, the Pioneer, on April 8. (Mack Trucks)
Mack is also in the midst of revamping its on-highway portfolio. Mack debuted a new flagship tractor, the Pioneer, on April 8 a short distance from where the company was founded. The previous longhaul flagship, the Anthem, will be retained.
Currently, the longhaul, on-highway segment was what Lundstedt termed during the analyst call “in reality, an almost absent type of segment for Mack.”
Mack holds around 1.2%-1.6% of the longhaul segment at present, the parent company’s top executive said, as the competition was too hot for the Anthem, with buyers limited to Mack loyalists.
“We have high but realistic ambitions [for the Pioneer],” said Lundstedt, suggesting 5%-6% of the longhaul segment was likely, even without sacrificing the tractor’s price point and Volvo Group margins.
“Mack is back when it comes to longhaul,” he said, adding that a lot had been learned from the VNL launch.
Volvo Group posted a profit of $1.03 billion in the most recent three-month period, down about 29% compared with $1.45 billion in the year-ago quarter. Volvo reports in Swedish krona and conversions were correct as of April 23.
