Volvo Group North America has informed workers it will lay off up to 800 employees at three East Coast facilities, including 250 to 350 at its Volvo Trucks New River Valley plant, a company spokeswoman confirmed Saturday.
The company cited the negative impact on heavy truck orders because of market uncertainty about freight rates and demand, possible regulatory changes and the impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs.
This will mark the second round of layoffs this year at the Dublin plant, which is one of the New River Valley's largest private sector employers. In February Volvo Group announced a layoff of 250 to 350 would take place by April.
Due to attrition, that number ended up being approximately 180 people, according to a statement issued Saturday by Janie Coley, director of public relations for Volvo Group North America.
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Combined with the earlier layoffs, "we currently expect that the total impact at NRV will unfortunately be about 430 to 530 people, Coley wrote. "We regret having to take this action, but we need to align production with reduced demand for our vehicles."
The heavy duty truck assembly plant off Interstate 81 in Dublin currently employs approximately 3,400 people.
The other layoffs in this latest round announced to workers Thursday include:
- 250 to 350 people at the Mack Trucks Lehigh Valley Operations in Macungie, Pennsylvania.
- 50 to 100 people at the Volvo Group Powertrain Operations in Hagerstown, Maryland.
The publicly traded Volvo Group in January reported to investors that its fourth-quarter adjusted operating margin in trucks fell to 10.6% from 13.7%.
In its annual report issued Feb. 27, President and CEO Martin Lundstedt reported lower demand for trucks was a factor in both North America and Europe in 2024, with net sales in trucks down 2% for the year and the adjusted operating margin for the year decreasing to 12.7%, down from 2023's more robust 14.8%. The company is due to report first-quarter results Wednesday.
In North America, Volvo Group held a market share of 9% for trucks in 2024, and 6% for Mack Trucks, the company reported.
Also in 2024, the New River Valley plant completed a six-year, $400 million expansion and upgrade to prepare for production of the new Volvo VNL model. Meanwhile, Volvo Group announced it was building a new, 1.7-million-square-foot plant in Mexico by 2026 to supplement the Volvo and Mack heavy trucks produced by its Virginia and Pennsylvania plants, respectively.
The New River Valley plant in Dublin produces Volvo Group's flagship heavy truck, the VNL Class 8 tractor.
