By Ilona Wissenbach and Christoph Steitz
FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Tesla is targeting around 400 job cuts at its German gigafactory near Berlin, or about 3% of the plant's total workforce, it said on Tuesday, adding it was hoping to achieve this without forced layoffs.
That is less severe than group-wide efforts to slash over 10% of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)'s more than 140,000 global employees, a response to an intensifying price war for electric vehicles that is pressuring automakers to reduce costs.
"The currently weakening sales market for electric cars is also presenting Tesla with challenges," the company said in a statement, adding talks were being held with the plant's works council.
The company said it was hoping the cuts at Tesla's Gruenheide site, its only gigafactory in Europe, could be achieved through a voluntary programme.
"I regret the announced job cuts at Tesla in Gruenheide very much. However, I am pleased that this will be implemented with a sense of proportion," said Joerg Steinbach, economy minister of the German state of Brandenburg, where the factory is based.
He said the cuts were "comparatively moderate".
Tesla's Gruenheide site employs more than 12,000 staff and the carmaker last week said it would shed around 300 temporary workers as its global job reduction programme unfolds.
"It is always in our interest to operate our production as efficient as possible," Tesla said.
The news about job cuts in Germany came ahead of first-quarter results expected later on Tuesday, with investors bracing for the group's lowest gross profit margin in more than six years as global demand for electric vehicles ebbs.