Volvo Cars to close Stockholm office in efficiency drive

HELSINKI, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Sweden's Volvo Cars said on Monday it will close its Stockholm office, where 450 people currently work, relocating responsibilities to its Gothenburg headquarters as part of an effort to cut costs and boost efficiency.

The carmaker, majority owned by China's Geely, last year said it plans to cut 3,000 mostly white collar jobs as it grapples with a challenging automotive market marked by weaker demand and trade uncertainty.

Volvo Cars on Monday said concentrating resources across fewer Swedish sites would help reduce complexity, speed up cross functional collaboration and improve competitiveness.

The Stockholm office, established to build expertise in areas such as software development, artificial intelligence and digital customer experience, will close on March 1, 2027.

It was not immediately clear how many jobs would be cut as a result of the move.

"Volvo Cars will manage the process in close dialogue with employees and employee representatives," the company said in a statement.

(Reporting by Essi Lehto, editing by Terje Solsvik)