Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co.'s Volvo subsidiary tripled planned job cuts to 6,000 positions, or 25 percent of its workforce, citing a ``rapidly deteriorating'' auto market.

``The unstable economic environment has resulted in a very unpredictable situation, and the downturn in the global car industry is more drastic than expected,'' Volvo Chief Executive Officer Stephen Odell said today in a statement.

Auto sales plunged 27 percent in the U.S. last month, and four of the European Union's five biggest car markets declined in September. Daimler AG and Renault SA are among European companies that are cutting production, idling plants and eliminating jobs because of declining demand. General Motors Corp. said yesterday it will trim output by about 40,000 vehicles by the end of the year in Europe.

Ford's Volvo division said today it added 4,000 job eliminations to cuts of 2,000 announced in June. The positions include regular employees and consultants, the Gothenburg, Sweden-based unit said in the statement.

Ford, the second-largest U.S. carmaker, has said it plans to scale back U.K. production of its best-selling European delivery van. The company also said today that 900 workers at a metal- stamping plant in Dagenham, England, will switch to a four-day work week for the next 14 weeks because of declining demand.

Volvo earnings for this year's second half will be worse than in the first six months, Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford said Oct. 2, reversing a forecast for improvement. The Swedish unit had a pretax loss of $271 million in the first half.

Reducing Expenses

The manufacturer, Ford's sole remaining Europe-based brand, said in June it couldn't sustain employment of 24,300 people because of the weak dollar, rising raw material prices and declining sales in the U.S. and Europe. The reductions are part of a plan to lower expenses by 4 billion kronor ($562 million).

Including today's announcement, about 4,800 employees will lose jobs in Sweden and abroad, while 1,200 consultants will be eliminated. Of the additional cuts, 2,230 positions will be trimmed in Gothenburg, 410 at Volvo Cars Body Components in Olofstrom and 60 at an engine plant in Skovde. Volvo said 600 of the job cuts announced today will be outside Sweden.

Renault, France's second-largest carmaker, said today it had formalized a program to seek 4,000 voluntary departures. The Boulogne-Billancourt-based company wants to cut 3,000 white- collar jobs and a further 1,000 positions at the Laguna production plant in Sandouville.

Daimler, the world's second-largest luxury carmaker, said in August it will cut production by the equivalent of 3.5 percent of last year's sales. The measures, planned by the end of the year, affect Mercedes-Benz models.

Volvo Cars is a former unit of Volvo AB, the world's second-biggest maker of heavy trucks. Ford bought the car brand in March 1999.

To contact the reporters on this story: Marco Bertacche in Milan at mbertacche@bloomberg.net; Benedikt Kammel in Stockholm at bkammel@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 8, 2008 09:30 EDT