Scania in last-ditch effort to resuscitate Northvolt
Each member of Scania’s staff is supposed to be paired with a Northvolt shift manager or team leader to coach teams and drive improvements and implement standards, the Reuters report said.
Truckmaker Scania is helping Northvolt with the day-to-day running of its plant in Sweden as the struggling EV battery maker tries to secure funds, according to a Reuters report.
This is being seen as a last-ditch effort to bolster output and quality at Northvolt’s flagship Ett plant in Skelleftea that employs around 2500 people.
Scania’s staff have been sent to Ett and each member is supposed to be paired with a Northvolt shift manager or team leader to coach teams and drive improvements and implement standards, the Reuters report said, quoting internal documents about this somewhat unusual arrangement.
Once considered Europe’s great big battery hope, Northvolt has struggled with a series of problems including quality controls. In November, it filed for US Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
While Swedish truckmaker Scania has been a key Northvolt customer from the start, its close involvement in recent weeks goes far beyond regular customer engagement.
The Swedish battery-maker reportedly needs an estimated $1.3 billion to overhaul its business.
If Northvolt collapses, Scania may need to quickly tie up other battery suppliers.
Northvolt was not just an important project for Sweden’s “green industrial revolution” but touted as Europe’s answer to imported Chinese batteries and a means of reducing the dependence on oil.
Since it was founded in 2016, Northvolt rose rapidly, getting billions of dollars in investment and orders from top automakers like Volkswagen and Volvo.
But the mood soured last year as Europe’s EV market struggled. In June, BMW canceled a USD 2.2 billion contract with Northvolt. Later, the beleaguered battery maker announced plans to cut 1,600 jobs in Sweden as part of a major cost-cutting drive.
In October, a Swedish government agency said that Northvolt’s decision to scrap a major factory expansion in Sweden puts on hold crucial funding for the company that was agreed earlier this year.
“Northvolt’s liquidity picture has become dire,” the company said in its Chapter 11 petition, filed in US Bankruptcy Court in Houston.