A week ago, the Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt went bankrupt. The bankruptcy is particularly hard on Volvo, which stands to lose an entire factory.
It's been a little over a week since the Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt went bankrupt. And Volvo stands to lose a lot of money as a result.
Last year, the Chinese-Swedish car brand poured money into the construction of a Northvolt factory in the town of Torslanda, where Volvo also has a factory.
Originally – that is, before the bankruptcy – the plan was for Northvolt to start delivering batteries to Volvo in early 2026. They never got that far.
In fact, Northvolt did not receive a single battery for electric passenger cars. Scania, which builds trucks, did receive quite a few batteries.
However, in many ways Volvo faces an even bigger problem than Northvolt's largest shareholder – Volkswagen. While the Germans are likely to lose 13 billion kroner on the floor, Volvo is losing an entire factory.
Volvo Cars did not manage to take over ownership of the future battery factory in Torslanda before Northvolt gave up.
This is reported by Swedish Radio .
According to information obtained by the media, negotiations are underway between Volvo Cars and potential partners who could replace Northvolt.
In order for the factory to manufacture batteries, a new partner is required. Volvo Cars, on the other hand, has not wanted to comment on the information. Just as there is nothing officially new in the matter.
The period leading up to Northvolt's bankruptcy has been one long scandal after another. Just a few weeks before the bankruptcy filing, it emerged that the factory's management in Germany paid two politicians money to get approval. Read more about it here .
Even before that, several media outlets – including Boosted – wrote about how four employees at Northvolt's factory in Skellefteå are dead.
However, there has also been speculation that it is in fact sabotage from China that shut down the battery factory.
In September 2024, Swedish author Lars Wilderäng wrote on his blog Cornucopia that the factory in Skellefteå was being sabotaged from within by a subcontractor owned by the Chinese state.
Dagens Nyheter has also reported on Northvolt's connection to the state-owned subcontractor Wuxi Lead.
According to Lars Wilderäng's information, the equipment from Wuxi Lead, on which Northvolt depended, could only be controlled directly from China.
