Tariff Casualty: The S90 Must Die So Volvo Can Live
Automakers are approaching their responses to President Trump’s trade war from all angles, with some considering price increases and production cuts to cope. Volvo, a Swedish company with Chinese owners, imports a significant portion of the vehicles it sells in the U.S., making it more vulnerable than others. As part of its response to the tariffs, the automaker said it would discontinue the S90 sedan .
Automakers are approaching their responses to President Trump’s trade war from all angles, with some considering price increases and production cuts to cope. Volvo, a Swedish company with Chinese owners, imports a significant portion of the vehicles it sells in the U.S., making it more vulnerable than others. As part of its response to the tariffs, the automaker said it would discontinue the S90 sedan.
The China-built S90 only sold 1,364 units in 2024, so the loss won’t put a big hold on Volvo’s sales numbers going forward. An anonymous source told Automotive News that Volvo views the car’s demise as being cheaper than continuing sales with tariff costs. “it’s a low-volume car for the U.S. Rather than deal with the tariffs, they are just going to cut it.” That will leave Volvo to focus its attention on its most popular models, the XC40, XC60, and XC90.
Volvo moved production of its new electric EX30 from China to Belgium earlier this year, which will help with the worst of the announced tariffs. However, Trump’s decision to pause tariffs for 90 days doesn’t cover autos. To compensate, the automaker has ramped up production in the U.S., adding the new EX90 to the production lines in South Carolina. Volvo executives have also said the company would consider its U.S. manufacturing operations, potentially adding another model to its domestic output.
[Images: Volvo]
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