On Wednesday, Tesla said it will shut down production at its California assembly plant for a week this month to prepare for production of its high-volume Model 3 sedan, in the process moving the company closer to the target it made to start production in July.
Tesla said the brief planned pause will also allow the company to add capacity to the existing paint shop to prepare it for the Model 3 sedan, and other general maintenance works. A company's spokesperson said this will allow Tesla to begin Model 3 production this year as planned and enable to start the ramp towards 500,000 vehicles annually in 2018.
Several sources say that the luxury electric carmaker planned to begin test-building the Model 3 on February 20th. Tesla chief executive Elon Musk told investors and 3,70,000 customers last year who put deposits down for a Model 3 he intended to start building the cars in July 2017. During that time, analysts and suppliers said that the timeline set was too ambitious and will be difficult to achieve, this was also pointed to missed aggressive production targets Tesla have made in the past.
If Tesla succeeds in starting the pilot production of the Model 3 sedan at its factory in Fremont, California on February 20th, then the company would be able to share the news with shareholders two days later when it reports fourth-quarter results and better answer any questions about the Model 3.
Elon Musk has told the investors that Tesla could miss the July 2017 startup target if suppliers do not meet deadlines. The company has a lot riding on the Model 3, which is expected to be priced roughly $35,000 before government incentives. If the process is successful then the sedan could raise Tesla beyond a niche luxury player in the automotive sector.
Sources close to the company say that the Model 3 timeline was called extremely aggressive, and the challenges compounded by Tesla making last-minute changes to the car's design doesn't help the cause either. Such design tweaks can delay production by some margin, added costs are also needed as suppliers rework tools and molds to meet new specifications.
Tesla's previous launches for the Model S sedan and Model X SUV were marked by production delays and initial quality issues. So, the history doesn't beckons well for the near future.
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