California-based EV maker Coda Automotive laid off some 50 employees last Friday, including a substantial part of its sales and marketing staff.
California-based EV maker Coda Automotive laid off some 50 employees last Friday, including a substantial part of its sales and marketing staff, an anonymous source told PluginCars.com.
Senior VP Forrest Beanum later confirmed the news in a statement to the press: “CODA has released approximately 50 employees or 15% of our workforce across all functions to streamline our operations and right-size the Company. The Company is taking this action to better position our business going forward. We remain committed to the continued development and distribution of our products.”
According to PluginCars’ source, the company has sold fewer than 100 of its electric sedans since they went on sale in March, and sales virtually stopped after the car was recalled by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (for faulty air bags) in August. Last week, the Coda sedan earned a less-than-stellar four-star safety rating in an NHTSA test.
“They just cut everybody they possible could,” said the mysterious source (perhaps we’ll call him or her “Deep Cycle”). “Their sales department went to just a handful of people. It’s a real mess.” Deep Cycle also said that the company is running low on funds.
John Gartner, an automotive analyst at Pike Research, is not surprised at the news. “Coda has not been able to gain traction with consumers or fleets,” he said. “Coda’s launch vehicle has not been viewed favorably as consumers have not been willing to compromise ‘just’ to have a vehicle with an electric drivetrain.”
Source: PluginCars.com
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