![]() In a stroke of good fortune which, ironically, was caused by an economic crisis that hit the automotive industry hard, Tesla was able to buy a massive factory – which was valued at $1 billion – for just $42 million, a fraction of the original price. It had just narrowly escaped the clutches of bankruptcy. About a decade ago, Tesla was a struggling startup in the automotive industry. Musk himself has referred to the factory during high-stress periods as “ production hell” and told CBS’s Gayle King that the last few months have been “ incredibly difficult and painful.Tesla’s Gigafactory in Fremont, California is probably one of the most popular car factories in the world. Tesla has denied these claims and says its factory is getting safer, though a recent investigation by the Center for Investigative Reporting suggests the company’s evidence of improvement may be inaccurate. Tesla’s struggle to hit ambitious production goals has been a priority for years, at times above issues like worker safety, according to workers. Musk recently responded to such speculation with an April Fools' joke in which he pretended the business, which employs more than 30,000 people, had in fact gone out of business, and that he was wandering Palo Alto drinking a fake product called Teslaquilla. These production problems - as well as some lackluster reviews of the new Tesla model and alleged problems with its Autopilot technology - could put Tesla in a cash crunch, CNN (and others) have reported. Tesla's current goal is to manufacture 5,000 cars per week by the end of the second quarter 5,000 per week had initially been its year-end goal for 2017. Now, just two weeks later, production is once again on hold. The most recent miss came at the end of the first quarter of 2018 Musk had said the company would be manufacturing 2,500 cars a week by that date, but it was making only 2,000 per week by April 1. Over the last six months, Tesla’s inability to meet its production goals has become a mounting problem for the company. The Information reported in April that Musk was taking over responsibilities on the Model 3 line for Field, who remains with the company. Tesla did not respond to questions about the June schedule or mandatory overtime. Workers are paid for the extra hours, and Tesla says they volunteer for overtime shifts, but some workers say the weekend shifts are mandatory. Other Tesla workers made similar comments on a pro-union Facebook page for Tesla employees. Meanwhile, Tesla workers who work on the Model S and X lines have been informed by the company that those lines will be operating throughout all weekends in June, a current Tesla employee told BuzzFeed News. Not long after the February pause, Bloomberg reported that Tesla factory workers received an email from Senior Vice President of Engineering Doug Field, asking some of them to work extra hours on the Model 3 line in order to increase output and make the Tesla’s detractors (“haters”) “regret ever betting against us.” At the time, Tesla said the February pause was ultimately meant to increase output, and that such pauses are “common in production ramps like this.” Tesla provided BuzzFeed News with an identical statement regarding this month’s pause. Tesla previously shut down the Model 3 line in late February, according to Bloomberg.
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