STOCKHOLM, April 29 (Reuters) - Sweden-based Volvo Cars

launched cost cuts of 18 billion Swedish crowns

($1.87 billion) on Tuesday as its operating profit fell heavily

amid difficult market conditions for the automotive industry.

Operating profit at the company, which is majority-owned by

China's Geely, was 1.9 billion Swedish crowns for the

January-March period against a year-earlier 4.7 billion crowns.

The cost cuts, part of a new "cost and cash action plan",

will include layoffs and a larger decrease in investment than

earlier expected, the company said, adding that it had withdrawn

its financial guidance for the next two years.

The company's share price fell to record-low levels in

recent months as it grappled with mounting tariff pressures, the

continued slowdown in electric vehicle (EV) demand and global

uncertainty.

In a first sign that Volvo was taking steps to address

the situation, the automaker made an

unexpected

management shake-up this month by axing CEO Jim Rowan and

bringing back

former CEO Hakan Samuelsson, and a few weeks later also

replacing

its CFO.

"Given the turbulence in the market, we need to further

improve our cash flow generation and lower our costs,"

Samuelsson said in a statement on Tuesday.

"While we still have a lot to do, our direction going

forward is focused on three areas: profitability,

electrification and regionalisation," he added.

($1 = 9.6177 Swedish crowns)