Tesla told Austin workers on its Model Y and Cybertruck lines to stay home for the week of Memorial Day, three workers told Business Insider.

The break is unusually long, the workers said. Production lines were up and running during the same period last year, they said.

The electric vehicle maker notified employees earlier this week. The workers, who are paid hourly, were told they could either take paid time off or come in for cleaning and training but would not be working on the production line.

Tesla deliveries dropped 13% year over year during the first quarter.

  • tal@lemmy.today
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    16 hours ago

    Tesla told Austin workers on its Model Y and Cybertruck lines to stay home for the week of Memorial Day, three workers told Business Insider.

    Setting aside the Musk/Trump shennanigans and their impact on the Tesla brand as a whole, though…they’re also talking about the Cybertruck.

    I can believe that maybe they keep demand for the Model Y at a sustained long-term level, but I have a hard time believing that the Cybertruck is going to take off. I mean, if there’s enough commonality across lines, then maybe they can use the Cybertruck workers elsewhere, but I just don’t think that the Cybertruck is going to become a big success.

    Like, at some point, they gotta cut their losses on that thing.

    https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/tesla-cybertruck-sales-musk-b2746688.html

    Tesla Cybertruck sales underperformed in Q1, dropping more than 50 percent compared to sales in Q4 of 2024, reflecting a larger theme for the electric vehicle maker, which has faced market volatility and decreasing sales as its CEO has taken a role in the Trump administration.

    In the last quarter, Tesla sold roughly 6,400 Cybertrucks – more than double the number from the same time last year but significantly fewer than the 12,900 sold in the final quarter of 2024, according to research firm Cox Automotive.

    It’s the second consecutive quarter Tesla has seen a dip in Cybertruck sales. Sales peaked during Q3 of 2024 with roughly 16,600 sold.

    The Cybertruck was introduced to the electric vehicle market in 2023, and at the time, Musk touted that more than one million people had paid a $100 refundable deposit to reserve one.

    It also dropped production targets for several Cybertruck lines over the last few months, workers familiar with the matter told Business Insider. Production lines have reportedly also been thinned out; now, some are said to be working at a fraction of their previous capacity.

    • P00ptart@lemmy.world
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      16 hours ago

      None of that surprises me. The cyber truck is a flop so it makes sense to “inventory adjust” a week for them. And you can likely expect that trend to continue. Nice of them to give time off for their workers to enjoy the spring weather, right? 😉

      The model Y just got a facelift, though. And whenever that happens, there are hiccups. That being said, you would think production would be going full bore for it from generated excitement from the refresh.They could have found a flaw that stopped production while they fix the issue, or it could be that the excitement that they expected isn’t there. Knowing Tesla, it’s likely both.