Elon Musk announces Tesla cutting 7% of workforce

FREMONT, Calif. (AP) - 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.

This story was reported from New York.