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The electric car manufacturer Tesla has announced that it will reduce its workforce by 7% after the year "the most difficult" in its history.
The founder of the company, Elon Musk, said in an email to the company's staff that growth has been strong.
But he added that it was difficult to manufacture Teslas with their new and developing technology as cheap as conventional cars, and that the company's cars were still "too expensive for most people".
Tesla employs more than 45,000 people, which indicates a reduction of about 3,000 people.
Mr Musk said that the year 2018 had been Tesla 's "most successful", in which she had delivered almost as many cars as all previous years.
However, while he had increased production of his mid-market model car 3, Musk said his products were too expensive for most people and his profits were too low.
"We hope that this quarter will allow us, with great difficulty, effort and luck, to target a small profit," he wrote.
"However, starting in May, we will have to offer at least the mid-market model 3 variant in all markets because we need to reach more customers who can afford to pay for our vehicles.
"In addition, we must continue to move towards less expensive model variants 3."
He added that Tesla had "no other choice" than to reduce the number of full-time employees and retain "only the most employees and subcontractors criticism. "
He added that the company should make these cuts while "increasing the production rate of Model 3" and bringing many "technical improvements in manufacturing in the coming months".
The years have been tough for the electric car manufacturer and its founder of scale.
The company has repeatedly failed to meet its own production targets, pushing many investors to bet against it.
Analysis:
Theo Leggett, Business Correspondent
Tesla is in a race against the clock.
He is already well established as a niche producer of high-end electric vehicles. But this is not the place where society looks to its future.
Electric cars at the moment are in many ways a lifestyle choice. However, in the future, emissions regulations and restrictions on "regular" cars should drive them into the home.
This is potentially a huge market – and Tesla is aiming for a significant share. That's the reason for being its all-new model 3, touted as an "affordable" electric car.
But the model 3 is not really affordable, the cheapest versions have not yet been on sale. And you have to do a lot more to benefit from economies of scale.
Meanwhile, established manufacturers will soon flood the market with new electric vehicles.
Last year, Tesla's priority was simply to increase production as quickly as possible to achieve ambitious goals. It took a lot of new employees to get there.
Now we need to make more cars, cheaper – and we'll have to do it with fewer people. It will certainly not be easy, but according to Elon Musk, "there is no other way".
Mr Musk has also been involved in a number of scandals. He was notably sued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission after tweeting that he was considering making Tesla private.
Some badysts speculated that Tesla would change course this year, but earlier this month, quarterly shipments of Model 3 were canceled.
He also had to cut prices in the United States to offset the reduction in green tax credits.
In his email, Mr Musk said the company was cutting jobs after increasing by nearly a third its workforce in 2018.
"Tesla has only been producing cars for about a decade and we are facing huge and well-established competitors," he said.
"The bottom line is that Tesla has to work far more than other manufacturers to survive while building affordable and sustainable products."
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