Volvo Cars is eliminating more jobs, less than three weeks after announcing layoffs at its Charleston-area plant. The Swedish carmaker said May 26 that its cutting 3,000 positions, many in its homeland, under a cost-reduction program expected to be completed in the fall. Most are office jobs. About 1,200 of the cuts would affect workers in Sweden along with 1,000 consulting roles mostly based in the Scandinavian nation. The rest would be in other global markets. “The actions announced today have been difficult decisions, but they are important steps as we build a stronger and even more resilient Volvo Cars,” said Hakan Samuelsson, who recently came out of retirement and returned to the company as CEO. “The automotive industry is in the middle of a challenging period. To address this, we must improve our cash flow generation and structurally lower our costs." The company, owned by China's Geely Holding Group, employs about 42,600 full-time workers, including about 2,500 in South Carolina. Earlier this month, Volvo said it was trimming its local payroll by about 5 percent, or 125 jobs. "Volvo Cars is making a small reduction to our workforce and making some production changes at our Charleston plant," a company spokesperson said May 8. "This is part of our announced shift to regionalization and in response to challenging macro conditions. Our aim is to support impacted employees, protect as many jobs as possible and secure Volvo Cars’ long-term future in the U.S., balancing our investments with the need to reduce costs and improve efficiency." Volvo builds the battery-powered EX90 sport utility vehicle and the Polestar 3 SUV at its $1.2 billion Ridgeville plant. The company has said it plans to produce another car to be sold in the U.S. — possibly a hybrid — at the Lowcountry factory to avoid the Trump administration's tariffs on imported automobiles.