EV maker Coda Automotive lays off more than 50 employees

Coda Automotive has only sold 100 EVs since its simplistic sedan went on sale in March. A layoff of 15 percent of the company workforce shows that things aren't improving.

Coda Automotive, makers of the Coda sedan EV, laid off more than 50 employees last Friday, an anonymous source familiar with the company told PlugInCars.com. The layoffs included much of the company’s sales and marketing staff and could have been in response to lower-than-expected sales numbers.

Forest Beanum, senior vice president of external affairs at Coda, confirmed that the company had laid off the 50 employees, equal to about 15% of the company’s workforce in a statement released to PlugInCars.com. He said it was part of an effort to “streamline our operations and right-size the Company.”

Coda has reportedly sold fewer than 100 sedans since they went on sale in March. The company started with a “soft launch” in California, but had planned to open 30 dealers in the Golden State, Florida, and Oregon. In September, when it announced the expansion, Coda said it had 1,000 orders for its EV.

Of the 100 cars sold, 78 have been recalled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration because of side curtain airbags that may have been improperly installed. The sedan also scored a low two stars in the government’s frontal impact crash test, not the best way to instill confidence in potential customers.

Coda envisioned its sedan as a simple, no-frills option for people who just want an electric car. It lacks the flashy exterior of the Nissan Leaf, but that also means it looks like an ordinary car.

The chassis is imported from China, along with the batteries, and is assembled at a facility in Benicia, California. The car is essentially an electric version of the Haifei Saibao, a small sedan that went on sale in China in 2004.

The Coda sedan starts at $37,250 (and is eligible for a $7,500 federal tax credit), has an 88-mile range, and is rated at 73 MPGe (combined) by the Environmental Protection Agency. The Nissan Leaf starts at $35,200 (and is eligible for the same $7,500 tax credit), has a 79-mile range, and is rated at 99 MPGe combined.

Coda has talked about introducing a second model, built entirely in China, for 2014. As part of a partnership with Great Wall Motor Company, the car would be sold as a Coda in the United States and as a Great Wall in China.

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Dish Network employees will be allowed to tweet freely once more

Does a company have the right to prevent employees from sharing their thoughts about their company on social media? That's the question at the center of a new legal ruling issued today.

It’s understandable, perhaps, that some companies would want to cut down on the amount of time that employees spend on social media during work hours, especially if the amount of time spent playing Words with Friends or Avengers Assemble is impacting productivity overall for the business as a whole. But when it comes to trying to limit social media access because of the subject matter of Tweets or Facebook status updates, that’s an entirely different thing altogether – and one that, thankfully, is being challenged and pushed back upon by authorities.

The National Labor Relations Board has ordered Dish Network to reverse its Social Media policy as it appears in the current version of its employee handbook, in the process signalling that it will be more active in monitoring and combating similar corporate policies in future. As it stands, Dish’s policy prohibits employees from sharing any message that could be considered either disparaging or defamatory towards the company on social media. It was one of a number of companies named in a May statement from the NLRB as having social media policies that went “overboard” in their reach and may be in breach of federal law protecting the right of workers to self-organize, join or assist labor organizations to collectively bargain for better working conditions and wages – others included General Motors and Target – but really moved into the NLRB’s targets following the dismissal of a technician later in the year.

The technician in question was fired for violating safety protocol by not wearing either his safety harness nor protective eyewear when installing a satellite dish; when the technician approached the NLRB protesting his dismissal, the organization began looking into Dish’s attitude towards collective bargaining and unionizing, and discovered the company’s social media policy. What was particularly worrying to the NLRB was that said policy prohibited employees from commenting publicly electronically about the company even on their own time, as well as the company’s “Contact with Government Agencies” policy which, somewhat amazingly, requires employees to get management permission before speaking to anyone from the authorities regarding Dish policies.

In his ruling, Administrative Law Judge Robert Ringler ordered the company to immediately stop enforcing both the social media and government agencies policies, and provide employees with new guidelines in both areas, as well as ensure that staff is given appropriate notifications about the changes. In a statement issued in response, Dish said that “although DISH agrees with the Judge’s decision upholding the termination of an employee for violation of DISH’s safety rule, DISH disagrees with his statement regarding its Social Media policy. DISH is in the process of evaluating its legal options.”

Expect an appeal sooner rather than later, in other words. For now, however: Tweet without fear, Dish employees.

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Zynga lays off employees in midst of Apple event

Zynga lays off employees in midst of Apple event | iMore.com Skip to main content Android BlackBerry iPhone / iPad Windows Phone webOS REGISTER|LOG IN iMore iPhone iPad Forums Apps Accessories Reviews How-To Podcasts Free wallpapers: iPhone & iPad Guides: iOS, iCloud, Siri, photography, jailbreak Free: iPhone apps & games, iPad apps & games Shop Online Cases Chargers Screen protectors Headsets & More Free shipping on orders over $50 Zynga lays off employees in midst of Apple event By Simon Sage, Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 a 6:36 pm 7

Zynga, in an obvious attempt to avoid bad press, laid off some 100-odd employees during Apple's iPad mini event today. A total of 5% of their full-time staff are on the way out, and many were given two hours to clear out of the office today according to inside sources. The Boston studio is shutting down completely, while the Austin studio will see significant reductions. The Japan and UK studios are on the chopping block for closure. 13 games will be shut down, with a significant reduction in investment in The Ville due to dwindling performance. Though the vast majority of these games are on Facebook, there is a fair bit of overlap on iOS. Zynga's downward spiral doesn't bode particularly well for the titles it will be maintaining on mobile. 

It seems awfully skeezy to try to bury this news under all of the iPad mini noise, though if Zynga's going through a rough patch already, one could understand why they would want to minimize the publicity. Some of Zynga's more popular iOS titles include Words with Friends, Horn, Draw Something, Poker, Drop7, and FarmVille. How many Zynga games do you play? Would you be heartbroken if they were taken off the App Store? 

Source: Joystiq

Simon Sage

Editor-at-very-large at Mobile Nations, gamer, giant.

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0 15 75 More of: Games, News
More of: Zynga, Games, Financial ? PreviouslyiPad mini vs. Kindle Fire 7 HD vs. Nexus 7 vs. Surface RT vs. PlayBook: Spec shootout! Next up ?iPad 4 vs. Kindle Fire 8 HD vs. Nexus 7 vs. Surface RT vs. PlayBook: Spec shootout! There are 7 comments. Add yours. Fit24 says: Oct 23, 2012 at 7:07 pm - 1 day ago

I don't play any Zynga games.

Reply ppennza says: Oct 23, 2012 at 7:09 pm - 1 day ago

FarmVille isn't an iOS game anymore but anyways there games seem to be mostly fads. We all play them for a few weeks and then that's it. Or at least that has been my experience.

Reply P1lumbersCrack says: Oct 23, 2012 at 10:29 pm - 1 day ago

Agreed. You hear about them one day and everyone wants to play them, then two or three weeks later they are just icons on the phone and nothing else.

Reply powellcrazy says: Oct 23, 2012 at 8:40 pm - 1 day ago

I have found the same as above post, play a game for a very short time and move on.

Games are for kids..... they grow up and life happens

Reply ErRoRPr0n3 says: Oct 24, 2012 at 12:20 am - 1 day ago

Yeah, I was actually a Zynga player at one time. To the point I started buying stuff (looked at it as being the same as me buying a game every month for my xBox since I played it a fair bit it seemed a reasonable thing). All of the people playing the game for free started making buttloads of demands on how the game could be "better" all the while using ad-blockers and such and not generating any revenue for Zynga at all (all it takes is a run through the forums to see that). Using cheat links and so on so that Zynga were constantly trying to stay ahead of what I assume the median may have been for job/quest/etc. completion which isn't where it should have been. People like me started quiting in droves because it wasn't fun trying to keep up with people with 800 "friends" when I had maybe 30 that actually played and I also didn't think I should need to add strangers to my fb account in order to play a game. I voiced my opinion and it didn't matter. I, like most gamers I know, at least like the illusion of being able to finish something if we put a reasonable amount of time into it. (yes I am a gamer who plays just about any type of game including these). I quit with a decent amount of money in wasted in-game currency left. and log in every 3 -5 months just to see if it's still as bad as I remember it getting (its been a year). A good deal of my friends, even a very diehard fan of that particular game quit soon after because it was a full-time job just trying to play the game and earn the completion things and if you didn't you would fall behind and not be able to complete even more things.

My personal belief was that they had tons of games and didn't need to make each game the end-all be-all for everyone, by doing that people didn't try new games even when they had the cross-platform events because they already had enough work in the game they were playing. Each casual game should require at most 30-60 min a day to stay up to date, and if you want to do more then find a different game.

Just my 2 cents on why people dropped based on personal experience and that of friends. Just for reference, I consider myself one not to waste money so the leaving money unspent on the game is the only thing that makes me think about it now.

Reply Bill McNeal says: Oct 24, 2012 at 8:27 am - 1 day ago

I agree with your comment, I've not really played many of their games other than draw something, words with friends (I even got the paid versions!!) and poker, but from what I've heard, that's spot on. The other side of it is their super aggressive growth, zynga paid $200 million to buy draw something, which was at the height of its popularity. When zynga bought it, a lot of people I know stopped playing at that point, part of it was just being tired of playing it, and the other part was a "well, zynga is gonna ruin it anyway" attitude.

Reply Billybaldin says: Oct 24, 2012 at 4:32 am - 1 day ago

The problem with Zynga games is they all push you to pay real money for fake money or decorations. You don't have to buy these things but the constant barrage "buy this" crap really gets old. I honestly think people would play more if that aspect was at least mostly eliminated. Maybe even charge a few bucks to get the game then let people play. Stop standing on the corner begging for money Zynga. It obviously isn't working.

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