In a recently released interview with the official Tesla-recognized
"Both Berlin and Austin factories are gigantic money furnaces right now. Okay? It's really like a giant roaring sound, which is the sound of money on fire," Musk said in a May 31 interview released on June 22. "Overwhelmingly our concern is, how do we keep the factories operating so we can pay people and not go bankrupt?"
Earlier this week, Musk, the world's richest man, told Bloomberg that Tesla will be cutting its workforce by as much as 3.5% because of supply constraints. Early in June, Musk said that Tesla would "pause all hiring worldwide" and that he had a "super bad feeling" about the economy. He has also said that the company would be cutting 10% of its salaried workers over the next three months.
According to the interview with the Tesla owners club, the Austin Tesla factory is only producing a "tiny" number of vehicles. The plant is facing challenges producing its new 4680 batteries, and the tools needed to produce more 2170 batteries are "stuck in port in China". In Germany, the Tesla plant is in a "slightly better position" tanks to the fact that it's already equipped to use the 2170 batteries in production.
"This is all going to get fixed real fast, but it requires a lot of attention," Musk said, adding that COVID-19 shutdowns in China "were very very difficult" for the company.
"Just been trying to keep the factories operating the last couple years has been a very difficult thing, like supply chain interruptions have been severe, like extremely severe," Musk said. "The past two years have been an absolute nightmare of supply chain interruptions, one thing after another, and we're not out of it yet."
Tesla's Shanghai plant not only produces vehicles in China but also manufactures vehicle components that are then used in Tesla plants overseas. During the first two weeks of July, the company plans on halting production in the plant in order to upgrade it for higher output, Reuters reports based on an internal company memo.
"Berlin and Austin are losing billions of dollars right now because there's a ton of expense and hardly any output," Musk said. "Getting Berlin and Austin functional and getting Shanghai back in the saddle fully are overwhelmingly our concerns. Everything else is a very small thing basically."
Musk also said during the interview that he expects the delay in the production of Tesla Cybertrucks to end and for production to begin in mid-2023.
The Texas and Germany Tesla factories started production just this year, and both serve an essential role in the company's future plans.
