- Annabel Liang
- BBC News
Image source, Reuters
Tesla’s new factories in Germany and the United States are “losing billions of dollars” due to disruptions in China’s supply of raw materials for car production and battery shortages, said its founder Elon Musk.
He said the loss was “like money put in a huge furnace” at the Tesla factories in Berlin and Austin, Texas.
Corona curfews implemented this year in China, including in Shanghai, where the Tesla factory is located, have made it difficult for manufacturers to operate.
Recently, Elon Musk has been warning about job losses at the company.
Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla, an electric vehicle manufacturer, said:
“These factories are currently losing billions of dollars. These factories are costly, but no production has taken place,” he said in an interview with the company’s Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley club.
He said the so-called Ziga factories (factories with large manufacturing facilities) were set up earlier this year and were struggling to increase production.
Why the loss?
The factory in Austin produces only a “small” number of cars, as some of the raw materials for the car’s battery are stuck there “out of the Chinese port”, he said.
“All of this will be fixed quickly, but it needs more attention,” Musk said.
This part of the interview, which was recorded at the end of last month, was released on Wednesday (June 22).
Image source, Reuters
Curfews were imposed in various cities in China earlier this year due to an increase in the incidence of corona infection.
Various strict restrictions were imposed on the movement of people. Various restrictions were also imposed on Shanghai, the economy, manufacturing and export hub.
Elon Musk called the Shanghai-born curfew “a very, very difficult moment” for Tesla. As a result, the factory reportedly had to suspend mass production for several weeks.
The factory is set to close again next week for two weeks for development work, according to the Reuters news agency, citing the company’s note.
It aims to increase the factory’s production to 22,000 cars a week.
Tesla did not comment when contacted by the BBC.
Tesla last week raised the price of cars in the United States by about 5 percent due to higher prices of raw materials, including aluminum and lithium.
This week, Musk said he planned to lay off 3.5 percent of Tesla’s global workforce, as he had previously said he had “very bad feelings” about his economy.
Meanwhile, German carmaker BMW announced on June 23 that it had officially begun production at its new $ 2.2 billion (8 1.8 billion) plant in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang.
The company’s third plant in China will increase its annual production in the country from 700,000 to 830,000, according to BMW. Has said.
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