Tesla Model 3 Increasing Production To 5,000 Vehicles Per Week
Tesla Model 3 production has now increased to 5,000 vehicles after experiencing "production bottlenecks" early this year. This is according to the company's suppliers who revealed that they are back to working on Tesla's guidance of 5,000 units per week for the month of December.
One of these suppliers, Taiwanese auto component maker Hota Industrial Mfg. Co, announced back in October that Tesla slashed its orders for Model 3 parts by 40 percent from 5,000 vehicles per week to 3,000 vehicles. Now the same company, which produces gears and axles, told Taiwanese media that the electric automaker has increased the demand for parts back to 5,000.
Company Chairman Shen Guorong added that they now have to mobilize the whole company and even work overtime to fill in Tesla's orders. They have even resorted to shipping Tesla Model 3 parts by airplane rather than boats to fulfill their client's demand. The same surge in demand was also reported by other companies that are part of Tesla's supply chain.
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However, it should be noted that while the suppliers have received an increase in demand, it would take some time to transport these parts not to mention assembling them to a functional vehicle. This means that Tesla might achieve a production rate of 5,000 vehicles per week by January at its earliest.
Still, the announcement from suppliers does coincide with Musk's new guidance of "a few thousand vehicles per week" in December following production bottlenecks back in October. It's probably safe to say that a large proportion of reservation holders will receive their dream electric car by 2018.
Compared to other car manufacturers that have decades of production under their belt, Tesla is a relatively new company, the production woes it experienced is proof of that. But as the automaker slowly makes its way from being viewed as a "new" manufacturer, it's expected that larger automakers will take a bite out of its market share.
Delays are understandable but the competition is catching up quick. And unless Tesla plans to be driven out of the market, pardon the pun, it has to increase its production rate more than the current 5,000 vehicles per week, especially for a mass-market model such as the Telsa Model 3.
