The production lines at Tesla’s Grünheide plant have already been shut down several times this year – because of the situation in the Red Sea and after an attack. Now Tesla is shutting down production again.
The US electric car manufacturer Tesla has put car production at its only European plant in Grünheide near Berlin on hold as planned. A spokeswoman said this upon request. It is the first of five days in June on which Tesla will temporarily shut down vehicle and drive production. According to the company, this is also planned for June 14, 17, 27 and 28. Tesla justifies the breaks with improvements.
The planned production-free days are intended to be used to upgrade the production facilities to increase efficiency and optimize availability and cycle times. The foundry and battery cell production are to continue as normal. According to the “Handelsblatt”, the company had informed the workforce about “short pit stops” on five days. Production has already been on hold several times this year.
At the end of January, Tesla shut down car production in Grünheide for around two weeks due to attacks by the Yemeni Houthi militia on ships in the Red Sea. In March, Tesla’s power supply was attacked near the factory. Car production was put on hold for almost a week due to a power outage. In May, there was also no production on the bridge day after Ascension Day. At that time, activists protested against a planned expansion of the factory site to build a freight station and logistics areas. Some tried to storm the Tesla site, but the police prevented this.
The US carmaker has been producing electric cars at the plant in Brandenburg since March 2022. Around 12,000 employees work there. The global job cuts planned at Tesla in view of the slump in the electric car market also affect hundreds of jobs at the factory in Grünheide. The company announced in April that it would cut 400 jobs at the plant. Tesla nevertheless plans to ramp up production there in the future.
Source: Stern
