Tesla to slash tenth of workforce as Elon Musk says 'profit is obviously not what motivates us'

Tesla plans to slash its workforce by nearly one-tenth as the electric car manufacturer faces rising pressure to achieve profitability. CEO Elon Musk wrote in an internal email that the nine per cent staff reduction was in part a matter of cutting redundant roles. But he also acknowledged cash-flow issues that have raised eyebrows on Wall Street. "Given that Tesla has never made an annual profit in the almost 15 years since we have existed, profit is obviously not what motivates us", Mr Musk wrote. "What drives us is out mission to accelerate the world transition to sustainable, clean energy, but we will never achieve that mission unless we eventually demonstrate that we can be sustainably profitable".