Volkswagen is the Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt's largest shareholder. But now the Germans have left the board. "No comment," it reads shortly.
Volkswagen is now leaving Northvolt's board, even though the car brand owns as much as 22 percent of the battery company.
The decision to withdraw from the management is, however, received with surprise, as Volkswagen has had a significant influence on the company's operations. A spokesman for Volkswagen, however, refuses to comment on the development toDagens Industri .
– Please understand that we will not comment on further details of our contractual relationship with Northvolt.
It is Volkswagen's investment manager Sven Fuhrman who has requested to resign from the board.
According to sources cited by Dagens Industri, Fuhrman has sat on the board on behalf of Volkswagen since last year. However, Volkswagen does not wish to elaborate on when the decision to leave the management position has been made or what considerations lie behind it.
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However, Volkswagen emphasizes that the decision will not affect their share ownership in Northvolt. A representative from the company says in a comment to DI:
– The decision has no influence on Volkswagen's share ownership in Northvolt.
The withdrawal request was submitted to Northvolt on Monday. Volkswagen has close links with Northvolt.
The Germans also own the truck manufacturer Scania, which is a major customer of the Swedish battery manufacturer. In connection with the resignation, Erik Zsiga, press spokesman at Northvolt, explains:
– As you mention, Sven Fuhrman is leaving the board of Northvolt AB, where he has sat on Volkswagen's mandate since last year. Volkswagen is our long-standing business partner, so we have close cooperation with them and the Volkswagen brands for which we work.
Northvolt finds itself in a very difficult financial situation. The company has faced a number of challenges, and in October the subsidiary Northvolt Ett Expansion went bankrupt.
Even in the same month, the Swedish tax authorities threatened to declare the parent company bankrupt due to a debt of several hundred million kroner. Read more about it here.
The company has also fired as many as 1,600 employees as part of a major restructuring. According to Northvolt's director Peter Carlsson, a financial capital injection of at least DKK 6.6 billion is needed if Northvolt is to survive. But it is still unclear where the money will come from.
Volkswagen is not the only car brand that has defected from the battery manufacturer. At the beginning of the year, BMW tore up a contract worth 14 billion Danish kroner. Volkswagen reportedly has an order in the same order of magnitude sitting at the factory.
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