Tesla Motors has fired hundreds of workers after their annual performance reviews, even as the high-end electric vehicle manufacturer is in the midst of increasing production, according to news reports.
The exact number of terminated employees out of Tesla's workforce of 33,000 is unknown, but The San Jose Mercury News reported as many as 700 people may have lost their jobs.
"As with any company, especially one of over 33,000 employees, performance reviews also occasionally result in employee departures," a spokesman told The Mercury News.
“Tesla is continuing to grow and hire new employees around the world."
The terminations come as Tesla is trying to ramp up production on its Model 3 sedan, which has a customer backlog of 450,000 cars, according to CBS News.
The automaker produced about 25,000 vehicles in the third quarter, but only 260 were Model 3s, much lower than the 1,500 it expected to produce.
Tesla's chief executive Elon Musk is trying to expand annual production from 100,000 cars to 500,000, The New York Times reported.
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