Coda Automotive, the California-based maker of an all-electric sedan primarily produced in China, last Friday laid off more than 50 employees, including a substantial part of its sales and marketing staff, according to a source familiar with the company’s business. The source, who contacted PluginCars.com about the news, wants to stay anonymous based on concerns about possible “blow back” from Coda executives.
PluginCars.com contacted Larkin Hill, Coda’s former director of corporate communications, who was one of the employees let go on Friday. “I'm not able to talk on behalf of Coda anymore,” she wrote in an email. “I sincerely hope that they pull through this tough time.”
The anonymous source said the company had sold fewer than 100 units of its all-electric sedan since it went on sale in March 2012—and that sales had virtually stopped after the car was recalled by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (for faulty safety equipment) in August. Last week, the Coda sedan earned only two of five stars in recent federal testing of frontal impact—making it even more difficult to instill confidence in prospective customers.
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