Coda Dumping Employees to Cut Costs

Luke Vandezande
by Luke Vandezande

California EV start-up Coda Automotive launched its first and likely last stab at the electric car market this year.

The harsh reality of trying to break in seems to be coming to a head for Coda as reports of massive layoffs emerge. AutoGuide reached out to public relations representative Allie Mayer who has yet to respond, but information suggests that more than 50 employees were affected by the layoff.

SEE ALSO: 2012 CODA EV Review

Plug In Cars reports that an anonymous source said “they just cut everybody they possibly could,” and that “its a real mess.”

An unfortunately predictable outcome, Coda has been grasping at sales for months with incentives like a free GE WattStation home charging unit, or 10,000 miles of free fuel via a $552 rebate before that.

But at $37,250, the car proved too rich for most EV buyers’ blood. Worse yet, rough reviews and a two-star NHTSA frontal crash test rating, it seems, made it tough to keep afloat.

[Source: Plug In Cars]

Luke Vandezande
Luke Vandezande

Luke is an energetic automotive journalist who spends his time covering industry news and crawling the internet for the latest breaking story. When he isn't in the office, Luke can be found obsessively browsing used car listings, drinking scotch at his favorite bar and dreaming of what to drive next, though the list grows a lot faster than his bank account. He's always on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> looking for a good car conversation. Find Luke on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> and <A title="Luke on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/112531385961538774338?rel=author">Google+</A>.

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 2 comments
  • AutoGuide.com News Staff AutoGuide.com News Staff on Dec 11, 2012

    What a joke. People don't buy good electric cars. They certainly aren't going to buy a shitty one.

    • Jimmy DeanFan246 Jimmy DeanFan246 on Dec 12, 2012

      Yeah but it's still sad to see this happening. Small companies failing is always depressing because it reinforces the idea that America is forgetting how to innovate. True or not, it's hard to feel good about this. The Coda was an ugly duckling, yes, but the battery and propulsion system is leaps ahead of most other automakers. The Leaf stinks by comparison. It's just too bad nobody wants EVs outside of liberal la la land *cough* California.

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