Some staff have been given the option to transfer to another workshop such as stamping, painting or general assembly. It is not clear how many battery workers may be let go or the specific reasons behind the layoffs. Around 20,000 staff are employed at Tesla’s Shanghai factory, which has the capacity to churn out about 1 million cars a year.
While Tesla uses batteries made by LG Energy Solution and Contemporary Amperex Technology in its cars, the cells have to be built into battery modules and packs before they are installed in a vehicle. Much of that part of the process is done at Tesla’s battery workshop.
Some automation equipment that could help to replace human labor on the battery production line is in the design and construction phase. Austin, Texas-based Tesla is on a tear at the moment, both in China and abroad.
Deliveries from Shanghai rose almost 20 percent from a year earlier in June to 93,680 vehicles, one sign the disarray caused by the price war may be abating.
The company also delivered a record number of cars globally in the second quarter, the 466,140 figure beating Wall Street estimates. Tesla’s operating margin shrank to 11.4 percent in the first quarter, a roughly two-year low, after it marked down its EVs in January and March. CEO Elon Musk has done several more rounds of price cuts and said he’s comfortable making less money on each car sold.
