Saying the road ahead was “very difficult,” Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk said Friday that the company would be cutting its staff by about 7 percent.
The electric car and solar panel maker notified its employees about the staff cuts and other plans in an email posted on Tesla Inc.’s website.
Musk said Tesla hopes to post a “tiny profit” in the current quarter but a 30 percent expansion in its workforce last year was more than it can support.
Tesla’s shares tumbled earlier this month after it cut vehicle prices by $2,000 and announced fourth-quarter sales figures that fell short of Wall Street estimates.
“Our products are too expensive for most people,” Musk said in the memo to Tesla staff, saying the company has to “work harder.”
“Tesla has only been producing cars for about a decade and we’re up against massive, entrenched competitors,” he said.
Musk said in a tweet in October that Tesla, based on Palo Alto, California, had 45,000 employees. A 7 percent cut would involve laying off about 3,150 people.
“We unfortunately have no choice but to reduce full-time employee headcount by approximately 7 percent ... and retain only the most critical temps and contractors,” he said.
The company says it delivered over 245,000 electric cars and SUVs last year, nearly as many as all previous years combined. But its 2018 production fell far short of a goal set nearly three years ago of manufacturing 500,000 vehicles for the year. That goal was announced in May of 2016 based on advance orders for its mid-range Model 3, which Musk said sells for $44,000.
Musk said Tesla plans to ramp up production of the Model 3, “as we need to reach more customers who can afford our vehicles.”
“Attempting to build affordable clean energy products at scale necessarily requires extreme effort and relentless creativity,” he said in the memo, “but succeeding in our mission is essential to ensure that the future is good, so we must do everything we can to advance the cause.”
Tesla broke ground earlier this month for a factory in Shanghai, its first outside the US. Musk said it plans to begin production there of the Model 3 and a planned crossover by the year’s end.
Tesla and other global automakers including General Motors Co., Volkswagen and Nissan Motor Corp. are pouring billions of dollars into manufacturing electric vehicles in China.
Tesla plans 7% staff cut as CEO Elon Musk says company must ‘work harder’
Tesla plans 7% staff cut as CEO Elon Musk says company must ‘work harder’
- Tesla delivered over 245,000 electric cars and SUVs last year, nearly as many as all previous years combined
- But its 2018 production fell far short of a goal set nearly three years ago of manufacturing 500,000 vehicles for the year
New Saudi draft project to regulate direct market entry of listed companies’ subsidiaries
RIYADH: The Saudi Capital Market Authority has launched a draft regulation for the direct listing of subsidiaries of companies already listed on the main market, inviting stakeholders to provide feedback over a 30-day period, according to a statement issued Feb. 26.
The proposed framework aims to allow subsidiaries of main-market companies to list their shares directly on the main market without undergoing an initial public offering, thereby shortening timelines, streamlining procedures, and reducing the costs associated with listing on the Saudi stock market.
It also seeks to create more investment opportunities in the Saudi financial market, contributing to market depth and product diversification, while maintaining high levels of transparency and protecting investors’ rights.
The proposals enable the issuer and its financial advisor to share information about the company and its financial statements with a select group of potential investors before obtaining CMA approval for the share registration request, allowing them to assess their interest in a direct listing on the main market.
They also allow a specific group of licensed financial advisory firms to prepare research and financial reports, provided these are not published before CMA approval.
The proposed framework emphasizes the importance of proper disclosure by setting out requirements for registering shares on the main market, including submitting a registration document to the CMA.
It also specifies the information that must be included in the registration document, such as the method for determining the reference share price and the risks associated with this method.
Under the draft regulation, securities offering rules, ongoing obligations, and the CMA’s glossary of terms and regulations will be updated to allow this type of listing.
This approach is expected to bring multiple benefits, including maximizing the overall value of the main market with lower risk by listing companies that have greater knowledge and experience of market regulations, as well as deepening the market by increasing the number of listed companies across multiple sectors.
