Musk asserts that Tesla’s new plants in the United States and Germany are “losing billions of euros” due to battery shortages and supply interruptions in China.
The multibillionaire also referred to his operations in Berlin and Austin, Texas as “monstrous cash machines.”
This year, 19 lockdowns in China, including one in Shanghai where Tesla has a massive factory, have made it more challenging for manufacturers to operate.
In recent weeks, Mr. Musk has warned of impending layoffs at the company.
“Currently, both Berlin and Austin factories are enormous money-making furnaces. It sounds like a massive roaring, which is the sound of money burning “said Mr. Musk, the electric vehicle manufacturer’s chief executive officer.
They are plants “Currently losing billions of dollars. There are numerous costs but little output “In an interview with the Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley, a club recognized by the corporation, he elaborated.
Mr. Musk stated that the so-called gigafactories have struggled to raise output since their opening earlier this year.
Tesla’s Austin facility is currently producing a “small” number of automobiles, in part because battery components are “trapped” at a Chinese port “with no one to transfer it,” he claimed.
Mr. Musk continued, “This will all be corrected very quickly, but it requires a lot of effort.”
The interview was recorded near the end of the previous month, but this portion of the discussion was not published until Wednesday.
Earlier this year, Chinese authorities shut down several cities in response to an increase in Covid-19 infections.
Including the financial, manufacturing, and maritime hub of Shanghai, tight restrictions were put on the movement of people and materials.
Mr. Musk stated that the shutdown of Shanghai was “very, extremely challenging” for Tesla, which halted the majority of manufacturing at its ‘gigafactory’ in the city for weeks.
According to an internal memo obtained by the Reuters news agency, the facility will be mainly shuttered again for two weeks next month for renovations.
This is intended to increase the site’s output, bringing it closer to the company’s target of producing 22,000 cars every week, according to the report.
As the price of raw materials, including aluminum and lithium, increased, the business increased the price of all of its automobiles in the United States by over 5 percent last week.
Mr. Musk announced this week that Tesla will be laying off 3.5% of its global workers, after previously expressing a “terrible feeling” about the economy.
BMW said on Thursday that manufacturing has officially begun at its new $2.2 billion (£1.8 billion) facility in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang.
BMW stated that the new facility, it’s third in China, will raise its annual production in the nation from 700,000 to 840,000.
