(Bloomberg) -- Volkswagen AG said it remains a supporter of Northvolt AB’s ramp-up following reports that the German automaker is undecided on financing the battery producer in the near future.
“We are in close contact with Northvolt and are supporting the industrial ramp-up of the existing production lines,” said a spokesperson for Volkswagen, which owns around a fifth of Northvolt and is looking to cut costs to become more competitive.
The news follows reports over the weekend saying that Northvolt’s largest shareholders, VW and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., haven’t yet disclosed whether they’ll inject fresh capital into the struggling company. It’s unclear under what terms they’d be willing to participate in a new financing round, which is delaying the fundraising process, according to a Swedish Radio report on Monday.
“The work with financing is ongoing and we will return with more information when we are ready,” said Matti Kataja, a Northvolt spokesperson.
Northvolt is looking to raise 7.5 billion kronor ($737 million), half the amount it had eyed initially, Dagens Industri reported last week. The newspaper said the company needed to raise the funds in order to make September salary payments.
The battery maker last week announced it was cutting jobs and pausing some production at its flagship factory in an effort to cut costs as demand for electric vehicles slows. Another Swedish publication, Norran, reported over the weekend that the company had informed employees that it was halting all travel and expenses.
“We are making several tough decisions to keep costs down — these measures are part of that,” Kataja said.
Sweden’s prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, told reporters on Monday that taking a ownership stake in Northvolt remains off the government’s table. The ball is firmly in the court of the company, he said.
“They will have to take responsibility,” Kristersson said. “Sweden is engaged in the sense that we want to be a good location, but we don’t get involved in companies’ business strategies.”
--With assistance from Niclas Rolander.
(Adds comments from Sweden’s prime minister from eighth paragraph.)
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