[sherob]

Tesla is laying off 9% of it's workforce... time to take those rose colored glass off.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tesla...174822214.html

[PoorMansCamaro]

Yeah, because no other car company has had any layoffs. oh wait, GM laid off 1500 this year.

[nicktechla]

Layoffs suck, but sometimes a re-org is necessary to improve the company. I don't think I would say this is a sign things are going bad

[sherob]

It's not just the layoffs... it's just a precursor of what's coming.

[kevint]

Originally Posted by sherob

It's not just the layoffs... it's just a precursor of what's coming.

what's coming?

[Quinten_33]

Originally Posted by kevint

what's coming?

Elon Musk is getting fired?

{kidding}

[Iron Lung Jimmy]

Originally Posted by PoorMansCamaro

Yeah, because no other car company has had any layoffs. oh wait, GM laid off 1500 this year.

Difference being GM actually produces lots of cars... millions... and 1500 is not even 1% of its workforce.

[90503]

Did you guys read the same article from the link?....I know it's fun to bash Tesla, but I don't see what the "bad" news is???....Actually might be good news for them...

Here's the article....

(Reuters) - Electric car maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) is cutting several thousand jobs across the company as it seeks to reduce costs and become profitable without endangering the critical production ramp-up for its Model 3 sedan.
In an email he said had been sent to staff, billionaire Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Tuesday that the cuts were part of a simplification of Tesla's management structure promised last month.
"As part of this effort, and the need to reduce costs and become profitable, we have made the difficult decision to let go of approximately 9 percent of our colleagues across the company," the email read.
"These cuts were almost entirely made from our salaried population and no production associates were included, so this will not affect our ability to reach Model 3 production targets in the coming months."
Tesla has been trying to hit a 5,000 per week production target of its Model 3 sedans after facing initial production hiccups. Last week, Musk said the carmaker should achieve its target by the end of June.
Shares rose as much as 7 percent and were last up 3.6 percent at $344.18.
The layoffs mean there likely will not be more job cuts in the near-term, said Efraim Levy, analyst at CFRA Research, adding that Tesla will likely raise capital early in 2019.
"I don't think if Tesla becomes profitable in Q3 and Q4, that will be sustainable because of ramping up of the production. The layoffs may help them to achieve profitability in the near-term but not sustain it."
Tesla has been burning through cash as it continues to spend on its assembly line and prepares for new investments on projects such as the Model Y crossover and its Gigafactory.
Free cash flow, a key metric of financial health, widened to negative $1 billion in the first quarter from negative $277 million in the fourth quarter, excluding costs of systems for its solar business.
Several Wall Street analysts anticipate a capital raise this year despite Musk's statements that it will not be necessary due to profitability and positive cash flow in the third or fourth quarters.

Tesla said it began notifying impacted workers on Tuesday and would continue to do so throughout the week. A spokesman said it would reduce overall employment back to around 37,000 - roughly in line with numbers at the end of last year.
Musk also said that Tesla had decided not to renew a residential sales agreement with Home Depot (HD.N), and would focus instead on selling its solar products through its own stores and website. The company will seek to re-employ most Tesla employees at Home Depot stores at its own locations.
Musk told employees in May that the company was undergoing a "thorough reorganization" as it contends with production problems, senior staff departures and recent crashes involving its electric cars.
At the start of April, the company's shares had fallen by around 35 percent from a peak hit last September but signs that it is on course to meet an output target of Model 3 cars have wiped out almost all of this year's losses.
************************************************** *******************


He's cutting costs (mostly management) and weekly production of cars in increasing....


Compared to a GM "layoff", car production stops, but the employees (mostly line workers who get laid off) still get paid for doing nothing and no management is ever laid off.....I like Tesla's formula for increasing profit....They have customers still waiting for a car that they put down a deposit for....


Tesla is struggling to get up to speed by creating a car line and manufacturing from the ground up, with a waiting line of customers that GM could only dream about. I don't understand the rooting for an American manufacturer to fail....Why?...So GM can sell more imports?

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by 90503

At the start of April, the company's shares had fallen by around 35 percent from a peak hit last September but signs that it is on course to meet AN output target of Model 3 cars have wiped out almost all of this year's losses.

Well, if they keep setting new targets for production every time they fail to meet one, they'd have to eventually make an output target. I mean, nobody can be wrong every single time about something. So they should absolutely be rewarded with a higher stock price when they make their, what is it their 4th revised target? Who cares that they were supposed to be building around 10,000 a week by now ... they're finally to almost 5000 a week a mere 6 months later than planned. Hurrah!

[xc_SS/RS]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

Surprising that only 1/4 of deposits are getting refunded or surprising that that many have been refunded at all?

surprising it is being refunded at all. its the right thing to do but i thought the deposits might have been non-refundable

to the article: if you keep lowering your standards or goals you will eventually achieve or complete one

[KMPrenger]

Originally Posted by xc_SS/RS

surprising it is being refunded at all. its the right thing to do but i thought the deposits might have been non-refundable

If those deposits were non-refundable, I'd take a stab that a very significant portion of those deposits never would have came in, in the first place.

The question was laid out above regarding why would anyone want an American company to fail? Well, I'd agree...I don't really want that.

At the same time I get some satisfaction when bad news about Tesla happens in part b/c there are so many nose-up Tesla owners, or non-owner die hards out there that think Tesla's poop doesn't stink. I read through a few Tesla threads a while back, and most of these people seemed very high on themselves and on Tesla. GM and Ford products were trash for lesser people. Don't even start to talk about GM's "Super Cruise" compared to AutoPilot...they will tell you its so inferior its laughable.

What I'd like to see (and what I think will happen) is that Tesla is the innovator, driving and pushing the other automakers to take notice. But then GM/Ford come swooping in and eat Tesla's lunch by beating them at their own game. Let Tesla buyers still buy Teslas, while anyone else can get a cheaper and likely as good or better electric GM car.

GM could do it right now, if they'd just create an electric car that actually has a generally attractive look. I don't hate on the Volt or the Bolt, but those designs aren't going to create any sort of excitement either. Tesla's just look "premium". (don't get me started on that absolutely craptastic model 3 dash design) The 1st gen Volt looked nice and unique enough, while the 2nd gen just looks like a slightly fancier Cruze.

[nicktechla]

Originally Posted by KMPrenger

If those deposits were non-refundable, I'd take a stab that a very significant portion of those deposits never would have came in, in the first place.

The question was laid out above regarding why would anyone want an American company to fail? Well, I'd agree...I don't really want that.

At the same time I get some satisfaction when bad news about Tesla happens in part b/c there are so many nose-up Tesla owners, or non-owner die hards out there that think Tesla's poop doesn't stink. I read through a few Tesla threads a while back, and most of these people seemed very high on themselves and on Tesla. GM and Ford products were trash for lesser people. Don't even start to talk about GM's "Super Cruise" compared to AutoPilot...they will tell you its so inferior its laughable.

What I'd like to see (and what I think will happen) is that Tesla is the innovator, driving and pushing the other automakers to take notice. But then GM/Ford come swooping in and eat Tesla's lunch by beating them at their own game. Let Tesla buyers still buy Teslas, while anyone else can get a cheaper and likely as good or better electric GM car.

GM could do it right now, if they'd just create an electric car that actually has a generally attractive look. I don't hate on the Volt or the Bolt, but those designs aren't going to create any sort of excitement either. Tesla's just look "premium". (don't get me started on that absolutely craptastic model 3 dash design) The 1st gen Volt looked nice and unique enough, while the 2nd gen just looks like a slightly fancier Cruze.

That's what I worry about for Tesla. Now the big automakers are getting into the game, and they have way more money and bigger production. Tesla changed the game for everyone. All the previous electric cars had shitty range. They came along, raised the bar to 300 mile range, now everyone is aiming for that target. Now that Porsche, Mercedes and a few other companies are making their Model S competitor, it should get interesting.

I'm really surprised for all the Tesla hate in here. It's a great product.

[KMPrenger]

I can't believe GM doesn't have a small to midsize full EV or hybrid (Volt-like) CUV already roaming the streets. With the CUV boom right now, this is the vehicle that makes the most sense. Take the Volt, make a CUV out of it that actually looks nice = winner!

The 2018 GMC Terrain we own is on the delta platform that also underpins the Cruze (at least I'm fairly certain about that...). We are very pleased with our Terrain and its mileage so far, but a Volt like version would have been awesome to have also.

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by KMPrenger

I can't believe GM doesn't have a small to midsize full EV or hybrid (Volt-like) CUV already roaming the streets. With the CUV boom right now, this is the vehicle that makes the most sense. Take the Volt, make a CUV out of it that actually looks nice = winner!

The 2018 GMC Terrain we own is on the delta platform that also underpins the Cruze (at least I'm fairly certain about that...). We are very pleased with our Terrain and its mileage so far, but a Volt like version would have been awesome to have also.

I think they pretend that the Bolt is a crossover, and from a legal perspective I believe it is (something about a flat cargo floor or something, I think). But yeah, you'd think there would be more hybrid & EV crossovers out there given the general demand for the CUVs right now. Its not just GM either, but pretty much everyone.

Maybe the OEMs thought it would be piling on too much risk at once, 4 years ago when these decisions were being made there was still uncertainty as to how popular crossovers would be. So to dump a lot of money into a crossover, then a lot more into a powertrain other than a standard gasoline engine might have been a non-starter.

Or it could simply be an engineering issue. With the big boxes typically being heavier and less aerodynamic, you get less efficiency out of a hybrid and less range from an EV (or you need more batteries which adds extra cost).