Tesla To Cut 7 Percent Of Workforce, Per Statement From Elon Musk

The billionaire says that there is a 'very difficult' road ahead for the company.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has announced that the company will be cutting 7 percent of its full-time employees this year. In the company-wide email, Musk also announced that Tesla would end up keeping “only the most critical temps and contractors.” The layoffs are expected to impact roughly 3,000 Tesla employees, according to the Verge.

Musk took to his blog to explain the reasoning behind the mass layoffs, saying it had been the “most challenging” year in the history of the company. The cutbacks announcement comes only one day after Tesla officially announced it would also be ending its customer referral program in the hopes that it would help reduce costs. The referral program previously allowed people to give their friends a code that granted them six months of free charging on Tesla’s Supercharger network. The program will come to an end on February 1.

Part of the turmoil Tesla experienced this year comes from the launch of the Model 3, which is the company’s first mass-marketed vehicle. This led to all sorts of complications as the company grappled with production issues and struggled to scale up as it had originally intended.

“Tesla will need to make these cuts while increasing the Model 3 production rate and making many manufacturing engineering improvements in the coming months,” Musk said in his blog.

While Tesla did make a profit in 2018, it was nowhere near where experts had hoped it would be. It only managed to achieve a small profit in the less two quarters, with Q3 proving to be the best. Some think that a big factor in Tesla’s issues is the cost of the Model 3 itself. While the base price is claimed to be around $35,000, that number has proved to be false. The least expensive version of the Model 3 comes in at $44,000 — a significant price jump for the electric car.

Musk acknowledged that the company will need to make some big moves if it’s expected to be profitable in 2019. He expressed concern about the upcoming loss of tax credits, which will end up making the electric cars even costlier — which could have a devastating impact on already-sluggish Tesla sales.

Musk’s next goal is to create mid-range Model 3 options for all markets. He believes that the lower-priced cars will sell significantly better than their pricier counterparts and bring in much-needed revenue for the company. Tesla plans to roll out the mid-range Model 3 vehicles in May.

The USA’s federal tax credit for electric cars will be cut in half on July 1. The amount of tax credit will be cut to $1,875, before being completely removed on December 31 of this year.

Mary Barra Says GM Has Never Replaced A Chevy Volt Or Bolt Battery Pack – InsideEVs

16 H BY WADE MALONE Mary Barra talks plant closures, autonomy and electric vehicles. On Wednesday, General Motors’ CEO Mary Barra sat down with KC Crane for an interview at the Automotive News World Congress in Detroit. GM had been taking a lot of heat in recent weeks over their decision to idle 4 U.S.… Continue reading Mary Barra Says GM Has Never Replaced A Chevy Volt Or Bolt Battery Pack – InsideEVs

Bill Ford Keeps Hand On Helm Of Ford Motor Through Its Trials – Chief Executive Group

Bill Ford, executive chairman, Ford Motor Company Photo credit: Ford William Ford Jr., executive chairman of Ford Motor Co., is a somewhat enigmatic figure in the global auto industry who doesn’t speak a lot about the company in public and, when he does, typically is circumspect. But in his on-stage interview that capped off the… Continue reading Bill Ford Keeps Hand On Helm Of Ford Motor Through Its Trials – Chief Executive Group

Hire me! Departing Mercedes CEO’s amusing year-end video – IOL

Stuttgart – Mercedes-Benz boss Dieter Zetsche is set to step down from his position at the end of May 2019 and just as we’d expect, the highly likeable leader has put a humorous spin on his final year-end video. It’s set around a job interview, which we can say takes place in a very northerly… Continue reading Hire me! Departing Mercedes CEO’s amusing year-end video – IOL

WLTP and RDE: The new measuring procedures.

Recommended Kraftstoffverbrauch kombiniert  CO₂-Emissionen kombiniert  Stromverbrauch im kombinierten Testzyklus Product may vary after press date on 18.01.2019. 1 Die angegebenen Werte wurden nach dem vorgeschriebenen Messverfahren ermittelt. Es handelt sich um die „NEFZ-CO₂-Werte“ i. S. v. Art. 2 Nr. 1 Durchführungsverordnung (EU) 2017/1153. Die Kraftstoffverbrauchswerte wurden auf Basis dieser Werte errechnet. Der Stromverbrauch wurde auf der Grundlage der VO 692/2008/EG ermittelt.… Continue reading WLTP and RDE: The new measuring procedures.

Adjustment of the forecasting method for the Group and the divisions effective as of financial year 2019

%PDF-1.5 %���� 1 0 obj >> endobj 2 0 obj endobj 3 0 obj /ExtGState/XObject/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI] >>/MediaBox[ 0 0 595.32 841.92] /Contents 4 0 R/Group/Tabs/S/StructParents 0>> endobj 4 0 obj stream x��[_o�8/�⻍kI�m� L;�,��S`��6N�L�I�v�폤lDz�D�L�Xi��H��׫���7{���uU�7wŔ}�)�� e��p��BB�0M�Bv#��JwŬ��醀:��21 �)k��M�S�Cl|�Xo��om9�0�!fP�C����E�0l���lc��W_a,ޕȅ�qB��wU��k�g��C���u��W� ����m7+J���_�ƍq7CC��Qx��[�ܣ����8��A�{�J�����͊����PH[�jUW������!!�|��[�:��uqװ���=2�’�����ek��*”�m�ͪ5�ٶ�}��m�F�� �T~kJ��Ś��Y�U3�MO��lh���ɸ���qm�5��7/�ys�[���5�r �xo�*”˚���*��dS�/��S��1� ���I?Bw��G �a��m�Jߕ3p�p���I��@��I���2i2}�,�~�d�~�&O�&O�Py>��’���ݩ7���}G�IϨ���oʓw����~T~_�;w��)3��(���F~��.�f����Gߕ.h�’ߕ’ߕ;>ԙ���~Tq��Q�?:8�?�’���S@ ��J3���G�i3�����_�?��&G��I��������Q���ҚH�?�&��?�;�Z9��_S��n�4�L�w��h��h:8�?�&O�oZ^=O�I��:O�֏�ր?�:8�4�7�’�����&��’�����ɤ��F��4s�M�=M����y��֓#��tdz�΀’�����_�&~����tg��>����G�@ �ʎ=O�F=���q��Q��s�G��@ ���oʗ4���*L�?*vi3@ ���Rg��4f��3N���4&w�)S�M�KE-�R�P~t��/q@��R���qK�@}�J�������/>����.�4��S��`���K��&(�i��Z?@g�fkk��Tr Q�� ��D�o�JG,#?��jx!K�_�%��;��A�)�Ԅ�8���~4���+��S4^!(�W�� �9&p�#H碢�Mu�|0�SJ�P��a�`b�X(�wb{{S���>ٯ�����V��V^�a�AlG�ͺB; ���Ω�s5������6BqG�Z�t��G�� gi�e_*ߏ|g�b?*@K��ͪ���}�NHR5���AEA��lxJi�[�F���ZO2$�`�d|�;d�ל%��@���1@I=ɫv � �0��-�%?*�� ��kR�@��~�1����1Y����O�f��F����HG��`���9�g�[����@�x����j�~�����r����1Y_�̌g�j�5PS]�U�?h’��{ ޴s����X����kzT)��F�q-����L�-����/�`C �����Zo�ud@����������Ys���F�!����F�J�����9?Q�HcV?�����,���z���OǏֺ^5�����{�?�q��I�����5�e����?�t� %�/�J߈o��c��2jD�o�d��U>=�[����]�af�O�2 e���M�7�d�ι�Y��SrZ��tV��њ+�����X���߉��w�GPT`��x�ǰ�K(��M�֦�巈��u��n�3Y1�$(�İP… Continue reading Adjustment of the forecasting method for the Group and the divisions effective as of financial year 2019

Baojun Introduces New Logo for Upper-Level Models

Baojun Introduces New Logo for Upper-Level Models 2019-01-18 SHANGHAI – SAIC-GM-Wuling today introduced a new logo for its Baojun passenger car brand. The Diamond Badge will be applied to its upper-level models, starting with the Baojun RS-5. The current Baojun badge will continue to be used on other models. The Diamond Badge carries forward the… Continue reading Baojun Introduces New Logo for Upper-Level Models

Toyota Hilux Takes Toughness to a Higher Level with Historic Dakar Victory

From Britain’s farms and construction sites, to frozen polar wastes, the Toyota Hilux has proved itself a trusted top performer whatever the environment. Now it has gone further in its world-conquering achievements by claiming Toyota’s first victory in the ultra-gruelling Dakar rally. Toyota Gazoo Racing’s modified Hilux led throughout 10 days and more than 3,000… Continue reading Toyota Hilux Takes Toughness to a Higher Level with Historic Dakar Victory

Toyota Prius Adds Intelligent All-Wheel Drive for 2019

New Toyota Prius available with intelligent all-wheel drive (AWD-i) for the first time The next step in the self-charging hybrid driving experience, providing added peace of mind and support for the driver New Prius also adopts fresh styling elements, new interior trims and enhanced equipment features Second generation Toyota Safety Sense provided as standard on… Continue reading Toyota Prius Adds Intelligent All-Wheel Drive for 2019

Bavaria and Rhineland-Palatinate want damages from VW

‘,e.appendChild(e.resizeSensor),e.resizeSensor.offsetParent!==e&&(e.style.position=”relative”);var r,s,d,a,l=e.resizeSensor.childNodes[0],c=l.childNodes[0],u=e.resizeSensor.childNodes[1],h=e.offsetWidth,f=e.offsetHeight,m=function(){c.style.width=”100000px”,c.style.height=”100000px”,l.scrollLeft=1e5,l.scrollTop=1e5,u.scrollLeft=1e5,u.scrollTop=1e5};m();var p=function(){s=0,r&&(h=d,f=a,e.resizedAttached&&e.resizedAttached.call())},v=function(){d=e.offsetWidth,a=e.offsetHeight,(r=d!=h||a!=f)&&!s&&(s=t(p)),m()},y=function(e,t,n){e.attachEvent?e.attachEvent(“on”+t,n):e.addEventListener(t,n)};y(l,”scroll”,v),y(u,”scroll”,v)}}(e,o)}),this.detach=function(e){n.detach(i,e)}};return n.detach=function(t,n){e(t,function(e){e&&(e.resizedAttached&&”function”==typeof n&&(e.resizedAttached.remove(n),e.resizedAttached.length())||e.resizeSensor&&(e.contains(e.resizeSensor)&&e.removeChild(e.resizeSensor),delete e.resizeSensor,delete e.resizedAttached))})},n}),function(e,t){“function”==typeof define&&define.amd?define([“./ResizeSensor.js”],t):”object”==typeof exports?module.exports=t(require(“./ResizeSensor.js”)):(e.ElementQueries=t(e.ResizeSensor),e.ElementQueries.listen())}(“undefined”!=typeof window?window:this,function(e){var t=function(){function n(e){e||(e=document.documentElement);var t=window.getComputedStyle(e,null).fontSize;return parseFloat(t)||16}function i(e,t){var i=t.split(/d/),o=i[i.length-1];switch(t=parseFloat(t),o){case”px”:return t;case”em”:return t*n(e);case”rem”:return t*n();case”vw”:return t*document.documentElement.clientWidth/100;case”vh”:return t*document.documentElement.clientHeight/100;case”vmin”:case”vmax”:var r=document.documentElement.clientWidth/100,s=document.documentElement.clientHeight/100;return t*(0,Math[“vmin”===o?”min”:”max”])(r,s);default:return t}}function o(t,n){t.elementQueriesSetupInformation?t.elementQueriesSetupInformation.addOption(n):(t.elementQueriesSetupInformation=new function(e){this.element=e,this.options={};var t,n,o,r,s,d,a,l=0,c=0;this.addOption=function(e){var t=[e.mode,e.property,e.value].join(“,”);this.options[t]=e};var u=[“min-width”,”min-height”,”max-width”,”max-height”];this.call=function(){for(t in l=this.element.offsetWidth,c=this.element.offsetHeight,s={},this.options)this.options.hasOwnProperty(t)&&(n=this.options[t],o=i(this.element,n.value),r=”width”==n.property?l:c,a=n.mode+”-“+n.property,d=””,”min”!=n.mode||o>r||(d+=n.value),”max”!=n.mode||r>o||(d+=n.value),s[a]||(s[a]=””),d&&-1===(” “+s[a]+” “).indexOf(” “+d+” “)&&(s[a]+=” “+d));for(var e in u)u.hasOwnProperty(e)&&(s[u[e]]?this.element.setAttribute(u[e],s[u[e]].substr(1)):this.element.removeAttribute(u[e]))}}(t),t.elementQueriesSetupInformation.addOption(n),t.elementQueriesSensor=new e(t,function(){t.elementQueriesSetupInformation.call()})),t.elementQueriesSetupInformation.call(),l&&c.indexOf(t)o[e].minWidth&&(n=e);if(n||(n=s),d!=n)if(a[n])i[d].style.display=”none”,i[n].style.display=”block”,d=n;else{var l=new Image;l.onload=function(){i[n].src=r[n],i[d].style.display=”none”,i[n].style.display=”block”,a[n]=!0,d=n},l.src=r[n]}else i[n].src=r[n]}var i=[],o=[],r=[],s=0,d=-1,a=[];for(var u in t.children)if(t.children.hasOwnProperty(u)&&t.children[u].tagName&&”img”===t.children[u].tagName.toLowerCase()){i.push(t.children[u]);var h=t.children[u].getAttribute(“min-width”)||t.children[u].getAttribute(“data-min-width”),f=t.children[u].getAttribute(“data-src”)||t.children[u].getAttribute(“url”);r.push(f);var m={minWidth:h};o.push(m),h?t.children[u].style.display=”none”:(s=i.length-1,t.children[u].style.display=”block”)}d=s,t.resizeSensor=new e(t,n),n(),l&&c.push(t)}function d(e){var t,n,i,o,r,s;for(e=e.replace(/’/g,’”‘);null!==(t=h.exec(e));)for(n=t[1]+t[3],attrs=t[2];null!==(attrMatch=f.exec(attrs));)i=n,o=attrMatch[1],r=attrMatch[2],s=attrMatch[3],void 0===u[o]&&(u[o]={}),void 0===u[o][r]&&(u[o][r]={}),void 0===u[o][r][s]?u[o][r][s]=i:u[o][r][s]+=”,”+i}function… Continue reading Bavaria and Rhineland-Palatinate want damages from VW