Ford's Volvo Car Corp. to cut more staff

Volvo Car Corporation, owned by US automaker Ford Motor Co. said it was cutting more jobs and bringing forward the closure of one shift at its operations in Sweden as market conditions deteriorate.

Volvo Cars, faced with weak demand and soaring raw material costs, announced plans in June to slash 2,000 jobs and shut down the third shift at its Torslanda auto plant in southwest Sweden at the end of this year.

The company said it will bring forward the closure of the shift next month instead of December and estimated it would also need to cut an additional 900 jobs next year.

"The dramatic worsening of the market conditions in Europe over the past months, combined with a continued decline in sales in the US and a lower pace in growth markets has had very great effects for the global auto industry," it said.

"The weakening tendency in the market has continued and Volvo Cars is therefore forced to balance production volumes in order to avoid building inventory of cars," said the company.