BENGALURU: 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% of its workers and suspend salary payments to 25% 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 centre of a deepening debt crisis.