The Quebec electric-vehicle maker said the dismissed workers are mostly based in Canada and employed in product development and “overhead” functions that won’t affect its production capacity of 600 manufacturing workers. Shares closed down more than seven per cent on the Toronto Stock Exchange. (The Logic)

Talking point: The workforce cuts come on the heels of a previous round of 100 layoffs announced at the end of February at one of its Quebec plants. It also cut 150 jobs in the U.S. and Canada in November. Workers at its Saint-Jérôme plant filed to unionize earlier this month. The layoffs are part of the company’s efforts to trim about $40 million in annual costs from areas like leasing, consulting and professional fees. Lion previously said that about half its orders are stuck in government red tape because Canada’s transit funding program for EV buses is being administered too slowly. CEO Marc Bédard said in a release Thursday that delays in Canada’s Zero-Emission Transit Fund “forced us to further reduce our workforce.”