Volvo to close C70 production plant

The Uddevalla factory is currently run by Volvo and Pininfarina under a joint-venture agreement that was established in 2005 for the production of the C70 hardtop-convertible. However, the two companies decided to terminate their joint-venture agreement last year, and Volvo will take full control of the facility in 2013.

The factory currently employs 600 workers and production reached 10,000 units in 2010, which represents only 65% of its full capacity. Despite the impending closure, the Swedish carmaker does not intend to discontinue the C70, instead redeploying the production workforce to other facilities.

“The Uddevalla plant delivers cars with a very high quality”, said Volvo CEO, Stefan Jacoby. “However, a car manufacturer of Volvo’s size can’t, from a financial point of view, justify a plant that manufactures one single model in the volumes we have today. The low volumes in the Uddevalla plant do not justify continued production.”