Tesla Informs Workers About Temporary Model S and Model X Production Shutdown

Tesla informed workers at its factory in Fremont, California on Friday that the electric car production for the Model S and Model X would be closed from December 24 to January 11, according to an email seen by CNBC.

What About The Employees?

Employees working on those lines are given a full week of pay to pay for one to two and a half weeks of closure, as well as a few paid holidays. They have been asked to take five unplanned and unpaid days, but have the opportunity to try to find work in other factory areas on those days.

They were also encouraged to “volunteer” to help make the delivery of electric vehicles to customers during the closure.

In a separate email sent to each company on Friday, Tesla manager Elon Musk noted that the company was “fortunate to have a high demand than what the production could achieve for this quarter” and asked employees to increase production as much as possible during the remaining quarter.

What Does This Mean?

The closure of the S and X lines suggests that the high demand does not exceed these older varieties. It is unclear what Tesla intends to do with its Model S and X lines during the holiday season. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The company has been struggling with a recall in China, and safety probe by NHTSA, and warranty expansion covering some of its high-end Model S sedans, and its luxury SUV with falcon wing doors, the Model X, this year.

Delivery of these vehicles reached 15,200 in the third quarter of 2020, according to the company’s production and delivery report since September 30 representing about 11% of quarterly car delivery.

At the annual shareholders’ meet and the presentation made on battery day to the investors earlier this year, executives said the long-awaited Tesla Model S Plaid would begin to be delivered by the end of 2021.

E-Mail To Employees

Here is what the email said for production workers working on the Model S and Model X SUV (as published by CNBC):

Subject: S / X Holiday Shutdown

Hello Team,

The SX lines will be shut down for the holidays starting Dec. 24th and returning Jan. 11th.

We would like you to take the opportunity to refresh or spend time with your family, so Tesla will be giving you a full week pay for the week of Jan. 4th. There will also be limited paid opportunities for you to support other shops or volunteer for deliveries during some of this time.

Dec. 23rd – last day of work before shutdown

Dec. 24th-25th – Paid holidays*

Dec. 28th-30th – Unpaid time off (may use PTO**), support deliveries or other shops.

Dec. 31st-Jan. 1st – Paid Holiday*

Jan. 4th – 8th – Paid time off (40 hours)

Jan. 11th – return to work

If you would like to volunteer for deliveries for Dec. 26th — Dec. 31st, or support other shops from Dec. 28th – Dec. 30th, please use the survey below to let us know your preference. We will do our best to accommodate your requests, but preferences are not guaranteed and will be granted on a first come first serve basis.

Here’s the separate email from Musk to all employees (as transcribed by CNBC):

Subject: Vehicle Production

We are fortunate to have the high class problem of demand being quite a bit higher than production this quarter.

To ensure that we have the best possible customer outcome and earn the trust of the customers and investors who have placed their faith and hard-earned money with us, we need to increase production for the remainder of the quarter as much as possible.

I would only send this note if it really mattered.

Super appreciated,

Elon

Btw, please send me a note directly if you see ways to improve output, but feel that your voice is not being heard.

Synopsis

Tesla will be shutting down high-end, but old, electric vehicles – the Model S sedan and Model X SUV – for 18 days starting December 24, according to an email to factory workers seen by CNBC.

For the period ending September 30, 2020, Tesla reported that approximately 11% of the vehicles it drove were Model S and X cars, while the rest were Model 3 and Model Y.

Line workers have been told that they are given a full week of compulsory pay, but are encouraged to seek work shifts, or even volunteer for other parts of the business in the remaining unpaid days.

Share

Leave a Reply