Companies
24/07/2018

Weekly Production Target For Model 3 Cars Finally Reached By Tesla




A big tent is the solution that has helped Tesla to achieve its announced weekly target of manufacturing 5,000 Model 3 electric car.
 
It has been reported that the target was met on July 1 when the company rolled out its 5001th Model 3 from the production line in California in seven days.
 
Tesla chief executive, Elon Musk, said: “We did it! What an incredible job by an amazing team” in an e-mail sent to the company staff and reported by electric site Electrek.
 
There was also celebration from the employees after Musk also announced that Tesla churned out 2,000 of the more expensive Model S and Model X cars which put the total number of cars manufactured by the company in a week to 7000.
 
In the second quarter of he year, Tesla produced 55% more vehicles compared to the first quarter at 53,339 vehicles which included 28,578 Model 3s and 24,761 Model S and X cars, the company announced. Further in the second quarter, it had been able to deliver 40,740 vehicles to customers, Tesla said. That number was however below the expectations of Wall Street analysts but resulted in a 5 per cent increase in the shares of the company.
 
Last summer, Musk had set a target for the company of rolling out 5000 Model 3s every week for the company by December and 10,000 per week in 2018. However, Musk also wanted that because the company was attempting to meet the targets, least six months of “manufacturing hell” being entered by the company
 
In its effort to increase production, the company burned up at least $1bn of cash. In order to accommodate another production line, Tesla then constructed a semi-permanent tent at the factory after the company was severely criticized on the delays on and on “excessive automation” and because the company had been forced to conduct several shutdowns to correct issues. But it has just been a week that the extra line combined and the enhancements in production have been used and there is skepticism among analysts whether the company would be able to reproduce the feat.
 
“Reaching it is one thing,” said Dave Sullivan, the product analysis manager at market research firm AutoPacific Inc. “Consistently producing 5,000 per week with outstanding quality is another. I don’t think producing 5,000 once is anything to get excited about until it’s repeatable.”
 
Warnings against a “burst rates” of Model 3 production which would be unsustainable was issued by Brian Johnson, an analyst with Barclays, to investors in March. in order to estimate how many cars it is capable of building over an extended timeframe, the company has been making use of temporary periods of fast-as-possible production called “burst builds”.
 
in the next month, a target of achieving a production target of 6000 Model 3s a week is being set by the company, Musk said.
 
For tesla, achieving a production rate of 5,000 Model 3s every week is not just a mere milestone. The company is yet to produce its cheapest model despite the company being applauded for its mass market cars priced at $35,000. For the 450,000 people with Model 3 reservations, only the long-range variant, with a starting price of $49,000, is available.
 
(Source:www.theguardian.com)

Christopher J. Mitchell
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