Archive: https://archive.is/2025.03.12-073331/https://www.ft.com/content/21dbc9fa-2503-4a1d-a14c-7ac2b6f44303
Battery maker Northvolt has filed for bankruptcy in Sweden, capping the downfall of a company once regarded as Europe’s best hope of competing in an industry dominated by China.
The Swedish industrial start-up, backed by the likes of Volkswagen, Goldman Sachs and BlackRock, said on Wednesday that it had been unable to secure financing to continue and a court-appointed trustee would now sell off its assets.
“This is an incredibly difficult day for everyone at Northvolt. We set out to build something groundbreaking — to drive real change in the battery, EV and wider European industry and accelerate the transition to a green and sustainable future,” said Tom Johnstone, Northvolt’s interim chair.
It marks an ignominious end to a company that took in about $15bn from investors and governments in a technology crucial for electric vehicles where Europe is playing catch-up to Asian countries such as China, Japan and South Korea.
This is a developing story
Car companies are short-sighted in general. During COVID they had cancelled their semiconductor orders. And when during the end of 2020 the factories were telling them to place their orders. They didn’t. Soon after all capacity was sold out for years and the industry had an enormous self-inflicted shortage of electronics.