Tesla says it’s temporarily halting most production at its German factory because of attacks in the Red Sea, a vital global shipping corridor.
The electric vehicle maker said in a statement Thursday night that its factory near Berlin, which makes Model Y vehicles and batteries, will pause from Jan. 29 to Feb. 11.
It’s a fresh sign of how the hostilities in the Mideast are disrupting global manufacturing supply chains, with shipping companies reporting that they’re being forced to reroute vessels carrying goods and components on the longer route around the southern tip of Africa. Analysts say the detour adds 10 days or more to the journey.
I’m not saying you’re wrong, but consider another story.
LiFePo4 cells from China could be stalled due to Red Sea traffic, and going around Cape-of-Africa is about 1-week longer than through the Suez Canal. And 1-week shipment delay could lead to 2-week production delays in practice depending on how various logistical details line up.
But yes. Tesla famously removed RADAR and Ultrasonics from their cars two years ago in response to supply-chain disruptions. They were the “never stop production” companies, keep producing at all costs no matter what. Its a bit strange to me that they think that things will slow down in this case.
There’s good reason to believe that Elon Musk is truly worried about collapsing European demand due to the union issues. And is instead using the Red Sea attacks as an excuse to blame someone else for the shutdown.
Literally no other manufacturer in the area is forecasting delays, and all of them have commented as much. Tesla doesn’t have the demand for the US, Chinese, German, AND Texas factory,. It’s just that simple. So they’re stopping production to let consumption catch up, after several quarters in a row of decreasing prices to increase demand.
Yet that wasn’t the excuse they gave, which means they’ll happily lie about their motivations even when they’re clear.
That and the lack of consumer demand in markets already saturated by them. Much like when they said the Chinese factory would only ever serve the Chinese market, and then started selling China production units in Europe. 🤷♂️