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It’s always easy to blame the workers but, in the vast majority of cases, poor quality output is a management issue. Other car manufacturers have managed to cr

by pja 6y ago

It’s always easy to blame the workers but, in the vast majority of cases, poor quality output is a management issue. Other car manufacturers have managed to create production lines that churn out high quality vehicles every 90 seconds (or better) for decades now. When it comes to these fit & finish issues, panel alignment etc etc there is no excuse for Tesla not being able to reach the same minimal quality bar.

Veedrac 6y ago
That seems like a reasonable excuse to me. Tesla's only been doing high volume manufacturing for 8 years, and these things take time to build up expertise for. If you buy a Tesla today you should expect you're trading off some fit and finish for their advantages.
- thrill 6y ago
  No, that sort of continued excusing of the manufacturer is why Tesla, after 8 years of production no less, continues to deliver substandard quality. What pressure is there for them to do otherwise? Tesla accepts this, their customers, only occasionally grumbling, accept this, and their die hard fans go to the mat on social media to insure everyone else accepts this.
  - Veedrac 6y ago
    It seems very strange to claim that Tesla's sales aren't impacted by their lackluster fit and finish. I only vaguely follow Tesla news and I've heard this complaint a lot. Even if this were the case, that prospective consumers didn't care about paint quality and panel fit... then what's the problem? Why should Tesla focus on a problem you say nobody cares enough to buy a different car over?
- pja 6y ago
  You can buy this expertise off the shelf: you recruit plant managers from the rest of the car industry & give them a free hand. Or alternatively you can put the time into reading some of the many, many publications that have detailed exactly how it’s done. None of it is secret. Tesla seems to be unable to do any of this.

by pja 6y ago

Veedrac 6y ago

That seems like a reasonable excuse to me. Tesla's only been doing high volume manufacturing for 8 years, and these things take time to build up expertise for. If you buy a Tesla today you should expect you're trading off some fit and finish for their advantages.

thrill 6y ago
No, that sort of continued excusing of the manufacturer is why Tesla, after 8 years of production no less, continues to deliver substandard quality. What pressure is there for them to do otherwise? Tesla accepts this, their customers, only occasionally grumbling, accept this, and their die hard fans go to the mat on social media to insure everyone else accepts this.
- Veedrac 6y ago
  It seems very strange to claim that Tesla's sales aren't impacted by their lackluster fit and finish. I only vaguely follow Tesla news and I've heard this complaint a lot. Even if this were the case, that prospective consumers didn't care about paint quality and panel fit... then what's the problem? Why should Tesla focus on a problem you say nobody cares enough to buy a different car over?
pja 6y ago
You can buy this expertise off the shelf: you recruit plant managers from the rest of the car industry & give them a free hand. Or alternatively you can put the time into reading some of the many, many publications that have detailed exactly how it’s done. None of it is secret. Tesla seems to be unable to do any of this.