Tesla’s new auto plants in the US state of Texas and in the German capital Berlin are “losing billions of dollars”, the company’s chief executive, Elon Musk, said in an interview published on Wednesday.
“The factories in Berlin and Austin are giant money furnaces right now. OK? It’s really like a giant roar, which is the sound of money on fire,” Musk said in an interview with Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley, an official Tesla-recognized club in Austin, Texas.
The club split the interview with Musk into three parts, the last of which was released on Wednesday.
Musk said Tesla’s Texas plant makes a “small” number of cars because of challenges in ramping up manufacturing of its new “4680” batteries and as parts for producing conventional 2170 batteries are “stuck in the harbor of China”.
“This is all going to be fixed very quickly, but it requires a lot of attention,” he said.
The billionaire said the factory in Berlin is in a “a little bit better position” because it started out using traditional 2170 batteries for locally built vehicles.
Seeking “not to go bankrupt”
He said the Covid-19-related shutdowns in Shanghai “were very, very difficult.”
The temporary closures have affected vehicle production not just at Tesla’s Shanghai factory but also at its California unit, which uses some parts made in China, he said.
Tesla plans to suspend most production at the factory in Shanghai during the first two weeks of July for a site upgrade aimed at ramping up manufacturing, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.
“The last couple of years have been an absolute nightmare of supply chain disruptions, one thing after another, and we’re not out of it yet,” Musk said.
Tesla’s big concern, he said, is “how do we keep the factories running so we can pay people and not go bankrupt?”
Musk said earlier this month that he had a “super bad feeling” about the economy and that the company needed to cut staff by about 10% and “pause all hiring worldwide.” Earlier this week, he said that a 10% reduction in Tesla’s salaried staff will take place in three months.
Tesla began production at plants in Berlin and Texas earlier this year, both critical to the world’s top electric car maker’s growth ambitions.
Musk said he expected Tesla to start production of the delayed Cybertruck electric pickup trucks in mid-2023.
Source: CNN Brasil
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