Volvo Cars is one of the car manufacturers affected after the EU Commission introduced punitive tariffs against China.
It is obvious that the tariffs will affect us in the short term, says Volvo Cars' CFO Johan Ekdahl.
Volvo Cars reported an adjusted operating profit of 8.2 billion kronor for the second quarter, an increase of 28 percent.
We are coming out of a very strong quarter now. We are entering the second half of the year with a very good starting point. Of course, the tariffs will affect us in the short term, says Johan Ekdahl to TT.
According to Volvo Cars, only the EX30 model will be affected by the Chinese punitive tariffs, which were introduced temporarily two weeks ago.
Whether this will affect the price of the car, Volvo Cars does not want to comment in detail.
We are constantly reviewing our volumes and prices. This is one factor, but it is affected by many different factors.
However, it may affect how many cars they choose to sell, according to Ekdahl.
"Accelerated the process"
Volvo Cars has additional production in China, but it is essentially only the EX30 that is imported to Europe.
The car manufacturer plans to gradually move the production of the EX30 model to Belgium. But according to Ekdahl, the relocation is not due to the punitive tariffs.
The decision was made already before. But it is clear that this may have accelerated the process to some extent.
Johan Ekdahl does not want to comment on how much the Chinese tariffs will cost the car manufacturer.
We do not go into exact amounts. It is important to remember that the EX30 is an important car for us, but we have many other cars as well.
Dialogue with the EU
Volvo Cars also confirms that they have a dialogue with both Swedish authorities and the EU Commission regarding the tariffs.
But I cannot comment on anything specific in that matter, since it is an ongoing dialogue, says Ekdahl.
It was in early July that the EU Commission introduced the punitive tariffs of up to 38 percent - on imports of electric cars from China. This only applies temporarily and in November it will be decided whether the tariffs will become permanent.
The background to the punitive tariffs is that price competition should become more even. This is because Chinese companies receive state subsidies, which means that their cars can be sold at prices that other car manufacturers cannot match, according to the Commission.
Karin Rader/TT
Facts: This is how Volvo Cars is doing
TTTT
Volvo Cars reports an adjusted operating profit of 8.2 billion kronor for the second quarter, an increase of 28 percent.
The result was better than expected, but sales fell short of the average forecast according to Bloomberg. The stock price rose by around five percent after the report was released.
The revenue for the car manufacturer decreased to 101.5 billion, compared to 102.2 billion the previous year.
Car sales increased by 15 percent during the quarter to 205,400 cars. The share of pure electric cars increased to 26 percent of total sales.
For the full year, management expects sales volume to increase by 12-15 percent.
The Gothenburg-based car manufacturer - controlled by Chinese Zhejiang Geely Holding - is among other things one of the largest owners of the crisis-ridden electric car manufacturer Polestar.
Source: Volvo Cars
