Volvo to halt EX30 sales in US, affecting exports from Ghent factory
Volvo Cars will stop selling the electric EX30 and EX30 Cross Country in the United States after model year 2026, the company confirmed on Tuesday. The decision means exports of the model from its factory in Ghent to the US will cease.
The move is linked to “changing market conditions and financial factors”, according to Volvo, including the recent removal of a 7,500 USD subsidy for electric vehicles in the US. The rollback of incentives, introduced under Donald Trump, has contributed to a sharp drop in demand for electric cars. At the same time, new import tariffs have increased pressure on European carmakers, including BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen, which have struggled to pass on higher costs to consumers.
Since production of the EX30 began in Ghent in April 2025, around 4,500 units have been built for the American market, accounting for roughly one-fifth of the model’s output at the site. In total, Volvo sold about 5,400 EX30s in the US last year, less than 5 per cent of its overall sales there.
Uncertainty for Belgium’s last car factory
The decision is a setback for Volvo Car Ghent, now the only remaining car factory in Belgium, following the closure of Audi Brussels. The plant employs between 6,000 and 7,000 people, and it remains unclear what impact the halt in US sales will have on production volumes and jobs.
The United States is one of the factory’s key export markets, second only to the United Kingdom. Around one in five vehicles produced in Ghent is shipped across the Atlantic.
Last year, 212,177 cars rolled off the assembly line in Ghent, an increase of nearly 14 per cent. Of these, 21,845 were EX30 models, a growing but still limited share of total output. The factory’s core production remains the XC40 and EX40 family, accounting for 156,977 vehicles, alongside 24,565 V60 variants and 8,790 EC40s.
Strategy under pressure
The Ghent plant had recently undergone a major transition to accommodate large-scale EX30 production, with output falling to 186,313 vehicles in 2024 during the conversion period. The ramp-up in 2025 initially delivered renewed growth.
However, the anticipated commercial success of the EX30 has not fully materialised. Globally, around 75,000 units were sold in 2025, compared with approximately 98,000 a year earlier, a decline of 23 per cent.
Production of the EX30 had previously been shifted from China to Europe to avoid EU import tariffs on Chinese-built electric vehicles. The latest decision to withdraw from the US market now adds further pressure on the model’s outlook and on the future role of the Ghent plant within Volvo’s global production network.
#FlandersNewsService | A Volvo car seen at a press moment about the start of production of the Volvo EX30 at Volvo Car Gent, in Ghent, on Friday 25 April 2025. © BELGA PHOTO JAMES ARTHUR GEKIERE
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