Volkswagen investment chief Sven Fuhrmann is stepping down from the board of Northvolt, Swedish media outlet Dagens Industri reported on Monday. The move comes as the Swedish gigafactory startup urgently searches for cash.
German carmaker Volkswagen is Northvolt’s largest owner, with a 21% stake. It’s also Northvolt’s largest offtaker: Volkswagen ordered $14bn worth of battery cells in 2021 to be delivered across 10 years.
Volkswagen confirmed to Sifted that Fuhrmann had resigned from the board. “This decision has no impact on the shareholding of Volkswagen AG in Northvolt AB,” a spokesperson told Sifted.
Northvolt told Dagens Industri that it is in conversation with Volkswagen about a possible successor to Fuhrmann on the board.
Earlier this year, Sifted asked Northvolt and Volkswagen how many cells should have been produced as part of that deal by mid-2024 and how many had been produced, but did not receive comment from either company.
Northvolt CEO Peter Carlsson said last week the company needs to find 10bn kroner ($920m) in the next year. Carlsson said Northvolt is talking to existing owners and potential new investors.
Signs of distress at Northvolt first came in the summer, when BMW cancelled a €2bn order from the company, citing production delays. Northvolt then underwent a strategic review of its operations, which included laying off staff and closing some sites to focus on its central operations in northern Sweden.
Northvolt saw its net losses quadruple last year, reaching $1.2bn in 2023 up from $285m in 2022. Revenue increased slightly to $128m last year from $107m the year before.
Volkswagen faces its own challenges, caused in part by falling demand for EVs in Europe. It recently announced that it’s considering closing factories and it quit a labour agreement that protected workers from layoffs.
Sifted has approached Northvolt for comment.
This article was updated on 11 November 2024 to include a statement from Volkswagen.
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/volkswagen-northvolt-board-leave-news/
