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Volvo Cars confirmed the auto manufacturer will lay off 5 percent of workers at its South Carolina plant amid production changes.

The company employs roughly 2,500 workers in Ridgeville. About 125 will be impacted.

"Volvo Cars is making a small reduction to our workforce and making some production changes at our Charleston plant," a company spokesperson told The Post and Courier 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."

CFO Fredrik Hansson shared on the company's May 7 earnings call that retail sales were down 6 percent year-on-year for the company. "But importantly, wholesale volumes, which is really what's driving our financials, is down a full 19 percent," he said.

Volvo builds the battery-powered EX90 sport utility vehicle and the Polestar 3 SUV at its $1.2 billion Ridgeville plant and has hinted it might move production of other cars to the Berkeley County site to avoid the new tariffs.

The move comes less than a month after Hakan Samuelsson, who previously led the automaker from 2012-22 and helped bring the company to South Carolina, reclaimed the corner office April 1. That followed the resignation of Jim Rowan, who abruptly stepped down as CEO on March 31.

[UPDATED, 5/8/25] Charleston animal welfare activists this week reached a milestone they’ve dreamed of for more than a decade — saving 90% of shelter animals in the state from euthanized death.

“Over the course of nine years, more than 892,000 pets were given a second chance at life, demonstrating the incredible impact of statewide collaboration” by shelters and animal organizations across South Carolina, said Abigail Appleton, chief project officer of No Kill South Carolina (NKSC). It grew out of an initiative spearheaded by the Charleston Animal Society (CAS) a dozen years ago and funded through major support by Petco Love.

In recognition of the accomplishment announced at a Thursday press conference, Gov. Henry McMaster proclaimed May 8 as “No Kill South Carolina Day.” While he and other federal leaders offered congratulatory video messages, S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson attended the Thursday event “to address animal cruelty in our state and how we can move up from being perennially in the bottom tier of state animal protection laws,” according to CAS President and CEO Joe Elmore.

“The pinnacle of our 150th anniversary year [at CAS] was achieving this historic milestone,” Elmore said. “As our lifesaving commitment continues for the next 150 years, we encourage every South Carolinian to continue supporting their local shelters, adopting pets in need and advocating for policies that protect animals, including adequate funding.”

During a luncheon at Trident Technical College, Elmore added, “”This is a monumental achievement, particularly for a state in the Deep South, which we really thought impossible. There are definitely pockets in the state that are not there yet. … it inspires us to continue to build on this, because there are others that we just can’t leave behind in our state.”

In 2013, the animal society built the first “no kill” shelter in the Southeast, Elmore said. Two years later, it announced NKSC as a statewide initiative and launched it the following year.

“We set a benchmark called the NKSC Lifesaving Rate of 90% to be reached by organizations working together to collectively reach it,” Elmore recalled. “We framed this as a community-centric goal, not organization-centric, as all issues — homelessness, poverty, violence, et cetera — are community-based, not centered around organizations. We do not use the terminology of ‘no kill shelter’ for this reason.”

Animal welfare advocates said improving efforts to save animals has continuing challenges. To keep cats out of shelters, for example, communities need to expand spay-and-neuter programs. Dogs in shelters face rising veterinary costs and behavioral rehabilitation issues. There also are continuing funding issues as well as veterinary shortages in the United States, which makes a newly-funded veterinary school at Clemson University helpful in South Carolina.

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North Charleston-based Mercedes-Benz Vans has contributed to five million Sprinter vans produced globally after nearly 20 years of production out of the Lowcountry, according to a news release.

Mercedes recently handed over its five millionth vehicle, an all-electric van, to FedEx, a longstanding customer for the manufacturer, according to a news release. The van was assembled at the North Charleston facility for Sprinter in North America.

“The global production of five million Sprinter vans and the celebration of the model’s 30th anniversary is a testament to its enduring success,” Thomas Klein, head of Mercedes-Benz Vans, said in the release. “This milestone reflects the dedication of our teams, the trust of our customers, and the continuous evolution of a vehicle that has defined the large van segment for three decades. We are proud of this legacy and excited for the future as we continue to drive progress in the van industry.”

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FedEx was one of Mercedes-Benz first major customers in the United States, contributing to a risen interest from fleet customers which inspired the North Charleston facilities, the release said. The FedEx fleet has begun to deploy the eSprinter in four states.

“As our network has evolved and grown over the years, vans from Mercedes-Benz – including the Sprinter and, now the eSprinter – have been there to meet our needs and help us deliver the reliable and superior service that our customers expect,” Pat Donlon, vice president of global vehicles at FedEx, said in the release.

HUGER — Vice President JD Vance hailed President Donald Trump's tariff-fueled push to bring back U.S. manufacturing by saying steel mills like Nucor in Berkeley County lead and show where the nation's prosperity can go.

"I believe that a golden age of American manufacturing started 100 days ago, and we’re building it right here at Nucor steel in South Carolina," he told the assembled workforce and VIPs gathered under a baking sun May 1.

Vance said that this visit was his first-ever tour of a steel plant and was especially meaningful because his grandfather, a man he says raised him, worked in the steel industry as a welder for 40 years at an Armco steel site in Ohio.

While Vance's first mill stop and tour was here in South Carolina, he shared a story about how in the past he'd heard of a West Virginia steel plant that "sat idle for years under the Biden administration’s crushing environmental regulations and environmental rules."

Vance then chastised what he characterized as a preference of other unidentified American leaders who don't want the American workforce to manufacture here at home.

“We are never going to allow your job to get shipped off to a country that hates us,” he said, later adding, “We want our children to grow up in a country where the things they need are made by their neighbors — and not by foreigners who hate their guts.”

“Do you want to ship American jobs off to the People's Republic of China?" he said at one point.

The crowd responded “No!”

Vance's brief appearance of about an hour was designed to be a full-on show of support of the Trump agenda some 600 miles from Washington, D.C., just as the president's tariff push is roiling markets around the globe.

Trump's April 2 tariff rollout, which he dubbed "Liberation Day," raised the effective import tax rate on nearly all Chinese goods to 145 percent — even after scaling back many of the broader duties just days later.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - For the first time ever, the Charleston Animal Society says that 90 percent of the pets who entered animal organizations across the state were saved from euthanasia.

The animal society’s No Kill South Carolina initiative has been underway since 2016.

Officials with the animal society say they have saved more than 892,000 pets across the Palmetto State over the past nine years.

A million-dollar grant from Petco Love has helped the initiative invest in programs and resources across the state.

The groups are now working to expand spay-and-neuter programs for cats. They are also looking at resources as the number of shelter dogs with medical or behavioral issues has increased over the past couple of years.

“We reached the milestone. It’ll continue to get harder and harder, but today is a day of celebration to do something to have a chance to achieve something that so many thought impossible, particularly in the deep south,” Charleston Animal Society President & CEO Joe Elmore said.

Officials with the Charleston Animal Society say that across the U.S., including here in South Carolina, another challenge has been the significant shortage of veterinarians. Animal shelters and organizations are consistently underfunded, the animal society says, adding to the challenge.

South Carolina has been considered “no kill” for cats since 2023, but the animal society says the continued success depends on keeping cats out of shelters in the first place by expanding spay-and-neuter programs and returning cats living outdoors to their natural environments.

For dogs, rising veterinary costs, economic concerns and behavioral rehabilitation continue to present obstacles, the animal society says. The increasing number of shelter dogs with medical or behavioral issues underscores the need for expanded resources and community support, the animal society says.

A “no kill” designation does not necessarily mean that no animals are euthanized. Instead, it requires that at least 90% of all animals in shelters’ care are successfully placed. Animals that are terminally ill, suffering from injuries or are a risk to the community may still be euthanized.

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