Sports car maker Aston Martin to cut up to 295 jobs

Aston Martin, the British-based sports car maker which counts James Bond among its customers, said Wednesday it will cut up to 295 jobs -- more than 10 percent of its workforce.

"The upper limit of affected positions is 295," the company said in a statement, adding that the planned cuts would make the company "more efficient and appropriately resourced".

The company employs 2,100 people.

Aston Martin said it hoped to minimise compulsory redundancies by offering early retirement, voluntary redundancies and not filling vacancies.

"Production and sales targets for this year remain unchanged, and Aston Martin will continue to design, develop and engineer new models," it said.

Aston Martin said last week the cuts would mostly be in administration jobs rather than production at its Gaydon plant in central England.

The 102-year-old company is clocking losses and is planning to diversify production including with electric cars, British media reported.