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Apr 17, 2018 - Energy & Environment

Tesla temporarily halts Model 3 production

Ben Geman

Customers look at Tesla's Model 3. Photo: Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

BuzzFeed broke the news last night that Tesla is temporarily shutting down production of its mass-market Model 3 sedan, a hiatus expected to last four to five days.

Why this matters: Successful large-scale production of the sedan is critical to the future of the Silicon Valley automaker, which is churning them out more slowly then initially planned.

  • The Wall Street Journal writes on Tesla's latest headache: "A spokesman repeated the company’s past statement that shutdowns are 'used to improve automation and systematically address bottlenecks in order to increase production rates.'"
  • Tesla's current target is to be producing 5,000 per week by mid-year, up from slightly over 2,000 it made in the final week of the first quarter. Another missed goal could shake investor's confidence in the company.

Speaking of Tesla: The Harvard Business Review has an interesting piece that puts Tesla's recent struggles in the context of GM's rise, evolution and struggles a century ago.

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