Tesla has set out to revamp the auto industry since its inception. We take a look at what Tesla’s Q1'18 results mean for the company’s bid to disrupt the traditional auto supply chain.
- Tesla shows how difficult it is to do factory automation right. Tesla experienced a bottleneck in production of its Model 3 mass-market sedan after prematurely introducing automation to its assembly line in Fremont, California, causing the company to miss guided production numbers in Q1’18.
- Moving forward, Tesla is still committed to a fully automated factory. Tesla has dialed back automation and reintroduced manual labor, but the company seeks to eventually automate the entire assembly line, according to executives.
- Tesla executives are not trying to hide the problems in the factory. Talk about the Fremont factory’s automation woes were a theme in an awkward earnings call yesterday in which CEO Elon Musk teased an analyst for asking “bonehead” questions. The Model 3’s success or failure will determine if Tesla can mass produce a vehicle and follow through on its vision to disrupt the auto industry.
Want to see more research? Join a demo of the CB Insights platform.
If you’re already a customer, log in here.
