Tesla ramps up output in Berlin and Texas but hits target later than planned

Joerg Steinbach, the regional economy minister of Brandenburg, has said Tesla would be moving to three shifts at the plant by the end of the year to bump up output. 

Tesla's German plant produced 3,000 cars last week for the first time, the carmaker has tweeted — but the milestone was reached over two months later than planned in both Berlin and Austin in Texas, according to a memo seen by Reuters.

The memo, which Reuters reported on in September, projected 3,000 units in weekly output from the Gruenheide plant near Berlin in the first week of October, and from Tesla's plant in Austin in the first week of November.

Yet it took until last week for Tesla to post celebratory pictures on Twitter stating it had reached that target in both locations — last Thursday for Austin, and Sunday for Berlin.

Tesla did not respond to requests for comment on the memo or the delay in hitting the 3,000-car output target in Berlin and Austin.

Chief executive Elon Musk and Tesla often set ambitious targets, and the company is often late meeting them. In April, for instance, Mr Musk had said Tesla could hit 60% growth in deliveries. By July, the company had walked that target back to 50% for this year.

The production plans seen by Reuters in September forecast that Tesla produces almost 495,000 Model Y and Models 3s — which together account for about 95% of Tesla's output — in the fourth quarter, blowing past projected growth in the global autos market.

Yet alongside the delays in Austin and Berlin, the carmaker has grappled since then with issues including elevated inventory in Shanghai, its most important production hub, where it plans to cut December output of the Model Y by over 20% from the previous month.

Joerg Steinbach, the regional economy minister of Brandenburg, has said Tesla would be moving to three shifts at the plant by the end of the year to bump up output. 

In the US, shares of the electric-car maker edged down 1% at one stage. Mr Musk in a poll has faced calls to quit as Twitter's CEO. 

• Reuters