Tesla Motors to reduce headcount in China

The Tesla logo is pictured on Feb 5, 2014 in its first Chinese mainland show room in Beijing. [Hao Yan / chinadaily.com.cn]

High-end electric vehicle maker Tesla Motors Inc on Monday said it is cutting jobs in China under a restructuring plan launched earlier this year, after missing a sales target in the world's biggest car market.

Tesla declined to specify how many jobs would be cut, and did not comment on a report in the Economic Observer newspaper last week that it was eliminating 30 percent of its staff or about 180 of its 600 employees in China.

Some positions are being eliminated while others are added, but overall headcount has gone down in a restructuring drive that was announced earlier this year, Tesla spokesman Gary Tao said.