Report: Tesla Model 3 'Bottlenecks' Left Some Portions to Be Assembled by Hand http://fortune.com/2017/10/07/tesla-model-3-bottlenecks-built-by-hand/ By David Z. Morris Oct 7th, 2017 11:57 AM ET Despite long touting its commitment to automated production — what CEO Elon Musk has called “the machine that builds the machine” — Tesla Motors might have resorted to less advanced techniques to build its new Model 3 sedan. With the automated production line still incomplete, workers were reportedly assembling Model 3 vehicles by hand until at least early September. The behind-the-scenes report, published Friday by the Wall Street Journal, sheds new and possibly worrisome light on Tesla’s recent admission that it is dramatically behind schedule on Model 3 production. According to workers interviewed by the Journal, one of the “bottlenecks” Tesla alluded to in that announcement was that body panels were being positioned and welded by hand, rather than by precision robots. Those robots are in place now, but the workers estimated to the Journal that they might not be fully calibrated for another month. Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter. It is highly unusual that the Model 3 production line was not fully operational even by early September, more than a month after a Model 3 launch party thrown by the company. Musk did predict at that time that “six months of production hell” lay ahead for the Model 3, but major automakers typically don’t celebrate a new vehicle’s official launch until their production line is fully operational and refined. In response to an inquiry from the Journal, a Tesla spokeswoman did not rebut the claims, but did question the newspaper’s journalistic integrity. The Model 3 is a lower-priced bid by Tesla to sell electric cars to the masses, and has been met with massive consumer excitement — the company reported that it had just more than 450,000 preorders for the Model 3 as of this August. Quickly delivering well-built cars to fulfill those orders is an existential challenge for Tesla, as it bids to fulfill its sky-high stock valuation by transforming itself from a niche disruptor into a player big enough to challenge the likes of Toyota or General Motors. Musk has said the company is aiming to build 500,000 cars a year by 2018. At the current rate of production, it would take nearly 450 years to fulfill existing Model 3 preorders. Both Tesla and Musk have overcome gargantuan challenges in the past, but shifting that horizon — and doing so profitably — might be their biggest yet.
Tesla Inc stock declined nearly 4% on reports of Model 3 production issues. Is $TSLA stock in for more downside?
I say bring it. TSLA has been over inflated for some time, but any real serious dip is a buying opportunity.
Funny when a future-forward company has to resort to making parts by hand. Now hearing that Tesla fired 400 workers (out of 33,000 employees). Wonder if these were the ones that wanted to form a union? If so, then I guess unions don't fit in Musk's vision of the future.
If short sellers say shares of Tesla are overpriced now, this stock's short-squeeze potential could really be something to behold. Tesla is showing off a textbook example of a technical price setup that could springboard shares higher in the final stretch of 2017.
Watch this explode if they allow other manufacturers to use their network. That would be huge money for Tesla!
We are seeing first signs that Tesla is about to shock Wall Street on November 1 with better than expected results. Teslarati
Here is how it is going to move up to 340s until ER, then could go down to 280s before any upside movement
You can't deny that electric vehicles are the future, but he still has to beat out the big names in the industry to justify the price. Stocks as overvalued as TSLA should have drops like this, it reminds us about that ole risk/reward thing!
The thing to remember about this QTR--last QTR TSLA proved they could be profitable so this QTR they invested and expanded
I've seen this thread on reddit and I do really think about this question now. https://www.reddit.com/r/investing/comments/7agjfw/tsla_batteries_require_over_50_nickle_what_stock/ Could anyone elaborate here, please? I also hope that tesla grows more % over November
TSLA is and shall be overpriced, so when bad news, or just mediocre news, the price will fluctuate wildly. Panic sell offs are usually a good time to get into a stock, so when you see a barage of negative news and investor sentiment, that is when you should be getting interested. As for the nickle question, its not really a rare material or hard to come by, so I dont think there is a major play there yet.
