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STOCKHOLM, May 20 (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co.'s (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Volvo Cars unit plans to cut jobs and eliminate a night shift at its plant in Gothenburg, Sweden, to help it contend with tough market conditions, a Volvo Cars official said on Tuesday.

"We will discuss with the unions within a few weeks (a plan) to take out the night shift from the Torslanda plant," Olle Axelson, head of public affairs at Volvo Cars, said.

A report in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday said Ford was cutting production at the high-end Volvo brand to reduce costs and potential losses and that the U.S. auto maker's Chief Executive, Alan Mulally, was considering offloading the brand.

Axelson said some 700 staff were linked to the night shift -- in production, logistics or support -- but a much smaller number would be affected since other shifts may need to be accelerated.

Volvo Cars, which produces about 450,000 cars a year, builds its bigger models in Sweden and smaller ones in Belgium.

Axelson said Volvo Cars, which employs 25,000, had been hit by a fall in the U.S. dollar, the effects from other currency moves, rising raw material prices, softening markets in Europe and North America and a shift in demand toward smaller cars.

"We have, during the last 2-1/2 years, taken 3,000 people out of the company (through attrition and buyouts) and basically balanced out the negative situation we have had with the dollar versus the krona (crown)," he said.