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Tesla’s Fremont factory forced to shut down under shelter-in-place order
- flexie 7y agoI have never believed much in the Tesla bears but this is worrying. Without their main production and assembly facility open, they can't make money. The factory in Nevada produces batteries and powerwalls. The factory in China has reopened but its capacity is low and it's far away from their main markets in North America and Europe. The one in the Netherlands assembles cars based on components from the US. This comes a day after they opened deliveries for what could have / should have been their next big cash cow, the Model Y.
- jacknews 7y agoIs anyone out buying cars at the moment? Is anyone selling them even if they are?
- londons_explore 7y agoI would imagine lots of people currently using public transport might be thinking their own car is a more reliable option than public transit which is probably about to close, or taxis which might stop operations.
- Symbiote 7y agoPublic transport users are probably more likely to buy a second hand car. They can sell it in 3/6/9 months for much closer to what they're likely to pay for it. Alternatively, maybe they could borrow a car from a neighbour who is currently working from home.
- Waterluvian 7y agoI'm waiting and hoping for dealers to get desparate and buy then. So far they haven't budged from their pricings in January.
- extrapickles 7y agoEven more worrying about this is the downstream effects this will have if they are forcing major manufacturing centers to go idle. I’m involved with a small manufacturing company that makes highly specialized components for capital equipment and production lines. Combinatorics of the options (and being able to offer replacement parts for everything we have sold for nearly 30 years) mean these parts are made to order from raw materials, so we cannot easily stockpile a few and shut down manufacturing. If we lost most of our business, we would be forced to either close or charge $20k for a normally $100 part when one breaks in someone’s medical supplies manufacturing line (Breakages go up drastically when you suddenly switch to 24/7 operation). Even if we didn’t directly loose business, we could still be crippled if we suffered equipment failure, and the makers of the equipment were not on someones ‘critical infrastructure’ list to obtain replacement parts from.
- ummonk 7y ago"Another email sent to a Tesla employee instructs employees who are following the shelter in place order to take paid vacation days for days they do not show up to work and to contact human resources if they run out of those days." What the heck? It comes out of their vacation balance?
- Cthulhu_ 7y agoI believe that if a government mandates a shutdown of businesses, said government should pay for it. The employees directly that is, not the businesses. Also, businesses should have enough savings to keep paying for all of their employees in a crisis like this. The employees in turn have to remember they have the power. If they decide to just not return unless they get paid and their already scarce vacation days back, the company is screwed.
- oleganza 7y agoWait, it's a double pay. Here are saner options for "gov pays": 1. Gov pays employees for missed days, biz closes for unpaid vacations. 2. Gov pays biz for missed revenue, biz extends paid vacations. Also don't forget that gov does not even earn/save money, so "gov pays" is an instant failure in a rational discussion.
- londons_explore 7y ago"Gov prints money to pay wages" Isn't that's what's normally written in history textbooks shortly before "hyperinflation, economic collapse, failed state"
- 0xfaded 7y agoThe US is in the enviable position of being able to print money, and it should. Taxes are not about revenue collection, they're about controlling inflation. Print lots of money, distribute it evenly to everyone, and make a one time levy on all bank deposits to remove the same amount from the economy. You can call it stock buyback buybacks if you like ;) There may still be some initial inflation, as this action just released a lot of purchasing power to the masses. But people are tightening the purse, and long term things should level out.
- Onanymous 7y agoJust like many others under the same order. What's the news?
- SiempreViernes 7y ago"Even Musk is affected" I guess?
- PeterisP 7y agoYesterday it was claimed that the Fremont factory would still continue to work unlike all the other factories because they got some 'essential job' exception. That was interesting news, resulting in some political complaining, and this reversal is news as well.
- Cthulhu_ 7y agoAre other car factories forced to shut down as well?
- lnsru 7y agoYes: https://www.ft.com/content/dd76d42a-678b-11ea-a3c9-1fe6fedcca75 https://www.ft.com/content/dd76d42a-678b-11ea-a3c9-1fe6fedcc... Getting new shiny car will be a problem soon.
- londons_explore 7y agoDetroit will only close when the COVID-19 death rate eclipses the murder rate, and that's gonna take a while...
- alexanderhorl 7y agoYeah Volkswagen halted production as well.
- generalpass 7y agoVery misleading headline by the Chronicle. From the article: > In an email obtained by The Chronicle, Justin Kirkland, a plant manager, wrote to some Tesla employees at the Fremont plant Monday night that they should report to work until they hear otherwise from the company. > Another email sent to a Tesla employee instructs employees who are following the shelter in place order to take paid vacation days for days they do not show up to work and to contact human resources if they run out of those days.
- jaimex2 7y agoGuess the Chinese plant will have to pick up the slack, maybe permanently.
- generalpass 7y agoI wonder what the cost-benefit analysis looks like for moving the plant to another state when they factor in forced shutdowns. I imagine there are states that will be willing exempt them from forced shutdowns.
- mike_n 7y agoPerhaps they can retool and crank out ventilator/etc parts