{"id":1131734,"date":"2022-06-23T09:01:16","date_gmt":"2022-06-23T09:01:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/06\/23\/new-tesla-plant-losing-billion-of-dollars\/"},"modified":"2022-06-23T09:01:16","modified_gmt":"2022-06-23T09:01:16","slug":"new-tesla-plant-losing-billion-of-dollars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/06\/23\/new-tesla-plant-losing-billion-of-dollars\/","title":{"rendered":"New Tesla plant losing billion of dollars"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Elon Musk Tesla plant \/ Credit: REUTERS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Elon Musk says Tesla\u2019s new factories in Germany and the US are \u201closing billions of dollars\u201d due to battery shortages and supply disruptions in China.<\/p>\n

The multi-billionaire also called the plants in Berlin and Austin, Texas \u201cgigantic money furnaces\u201d.<\/p>\n

Covid-19 lockdowns in China this year, including in Shanghai where Tesla has a huge factory, have made it increasingly difficult for manufacturers to operate.<\/p>\n

In recent weeks Mr Musk has been warning of job cuts at the firm.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBoth Berlin and Austin factories are gigantic money furnaces right now. It\u2019s really like a giant roaring sound, which is the sound of money on fire,\u201d said Mr Musk, who is the electric vehicle maker\u2019s chief executive.<\/p>\n

The plants are \u201closing billions of dollars right now. There\u2019s a ton of expense and hardly any output,\u201d he added in an interview with the Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley, a company-recognised club.<\/p>\n

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Mr Musk said the so-called gigafactories have been struggling to increase production since they were opened earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Tesla\u2019s site in Austin currently produces a \u201ctiny\u201d number of cars, partly because some components for its batteries were \u201cstuck\u201d at a Chinese port \u201cwith no one to actually move it\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is all going to get fixed real fast but it requires a lot of attention,\u201d Mr Musk added.<\/p>\n

The interview was recorded at the end of last month but this part of the conversation was only posted on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Authorities in China locked down a number of its cities earlier this year in response to a surge in Covid-19 infections.<\/p>\n

Tough restrictions were imposed on the movement of people and materials including in the financial, manufacturing and shipping hub of Shanghai.<\/p>\n

Mr Musk said the shutdown of Shanghai was \u201cvery, very difficult\u201d for Tesla, which reportedly halted most of its production at its \u2018gigafactory\u2019 in the city for weeks.<\/p>\n

The site will largely be closed again for two weeks next month for upgrading works, according to the Reuters news agency, which cited an internal memo.<\/p>\n

This is aimed at boosting the site\u2019s output, bringing it closer to the company\u2019s goal of the plant producing 22,000 cars every week, the report said.<\/p>\n

Tesla did not immediately respond to a BBC request for comment.<\/p>\n

Last week, the company raised the price of its whole range of cars in the US by almost 5%, as the cost of raw materials including aluminium and lithium rose.<\/p>\n

This week, Mr Musk said Tesla planned to shed 3.5% of its global workforce after earlier saying that he had a \u201csuper bad feeling\u201d about the economy.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, German carmaker BMW said on Thursday that it had formally begun production at its new $2.2bn (\u00a31.8bn) facility in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang.<\/p>\n

BMW said the plant, which is its third in China, will increase its annual output in the country from 700,000 to 830,000.<\/p>\n

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