Volvo pulls EX30 from US as tariff maths fails to add up

Volvo Cars has confirmed it will end US sales of the EX30 and EX30 Cross Country after the 2026 model year, with dealer orders closing on 20 March and production of US-bound units winding down through the summer. The model will continue to be sold everywhere else in North America, as well as other global markets.

The Geely-owned automaker attributed the cancellation to financial and market-specific factors, and reiterated that its overall commitment to going fully-electric by 2030 remains unchanged. In reality, the EX30’s tenure in the US has been far from smooth: originally planned to be produced in China at a sub-US$35,000 starting price, tariffs imposed during the Biden administration forced Volvo to friendshore production in Belgium instead.

Moving to Europe, of course, significantly added to the vehicle’s production costs, pushing entry prices north of US$40,000. In this range, the car found few takers: the automaker sold just 5,409 EX30s in the US throughout all of 2025. By contrast, Hyundai’s Kona Electric subcompact SUV comes in around US$34,500, Chevrolet Bolt’s EUV US$29,000, and the Nissan Leaf S+ around US$30,000. 

Broader US trade and market trends likely have done little to inspire optimism for Volvo. Trump administration tariffs on European imports currently sit at 15%, following a turbulent period in which rates rose to 27.5% before being reduced and applied retroactively from August last year. The elimination of the federal electric vehicle (EV) credit in September 2025 compounded the pressure, stripping away the subsidy that had partially insulated imported models from sticker-price resistance among more mainstream buyers.

Production of the EX30 was shifted over to Belgium following Biden-era policy changes

With the EX30 gone, Volvo’s US EV entry point becomes the EX40. This model is substantially more expensive, coming in at around US$56,545—around US$17,000 higher than the outgoing model. The path to the US market now appears viable only for higher-margin products that can absorb the added costs of tariffs and overseas production without becoming uncompetitive on price. 

As it stands, average sticker prices for US passenger vehicles overall has surpassed US$50,000, and beyond Volvo this has pushed many automakers to double down on affordability. Ford, for its part, has committed to five models priced below US$40,000 by 2030, starting with a US$30,000 electric pickup due in 2027. Built on a new universal EV platform designed to lower the overall component count and streamline manufacturing, the model aims to reverse the trend of rising sticker prices and better position Ford against its Chinese counterparts. 

The EX60, due in the US later this spring, will carry the weight of Volvo’s electrification ambitions in the market. Elsewhere the model is doing very well: European pre-orders have significantly exceeded internal forecasts within weeks of its reveal, with Sweden alone generating more than 3,000 binding orders, and Volvo is reviewing production plans at its Torslanda plant in response.