Tesla to Lay Off 30 Percent of Staff in China: Report

Soft sales in China continue to plague Tesla as the company struggles to find firm footing in what it initially hoped would be a key market to further growth.

Reports from Chinese media claim the company is laying off between 180 and 200 jobs, accounting for approximately one-third of its workforce in that country. Telsa hasn’t officially confirmed the reports, but Chinese outlet DoNews claims the company is planning to lay off 30 percent of its employees citing an anonymous company insider.

In January, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said sales in China were proving to be more difficult than the company initially expected. Musk chalked the misstep up to a misunderstanding by consumers about how difficult it is to find a place to charge electric cars like the Model S.

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According to Reuters,  Tesla only managed to sell 120 vehicles to Chinese customers in January. Tesla doesn’t issue the monthly sales reports that other automakers traditionally release and many analysts are discrediting the speculative reports that circulate in lieu of an official report.

Tesla failed to reach its 2014 sales target initially pegged at 35,000 vehicles. The company revised that target later to 33,000, but it still came up short at 32,733 by January 1, 2015.

[Source: DoNews]