China Evergrande auto unit lays off employees, cuts salaries

China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group Ltd laid off employees and reducing salaries as cost reduction measures

China Evergrande Group's electric vehicle unit said on Friday it was laying off workers and cutting the salaries of some employees as a part of its cost-reduction measures.

The unit, China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group Ltd , also said it was arranging for some employees to take a break from work.

The statement comes after Reuters reported that the unit was planning to lay off 10 per cent of its workers and suspend salary payments to 25 per cent of its workers for between one and three months.

The unit also said that it is continuing mass production of its Hengchi 5 electric sport-utility vehicle and has delivered 324 units of the model to customers.

Reuters reported earlier this month that the company had suspended mass production of the model because of a lack of new orders.

The EV unit is key for the transformation plans of Evergrande, once China's top-selling property developer and now at the center of a deepening debt crisis.