Tesla Gigafactory Berlin is roaring back to life, shrugging off a brutal 76% sales dip in February and the ongoing controversies surrounding CEO Elon Musk’s politics.

As per factory manager André Thierig, Giga Berlin is currently aiming to return to its optimal production output, which was throttled when the plant shifted to the new Model Y. Thierig’s comments were related to German publication Der Tagesspiegel. 

Return to Production

The Giga Berlin plant manager noted that the facility is ready to ramp its production of the new Tesla Model Y. Last year, the factory produced about 1,000 vehicles per day. Efforts are now underway to return Model Y production to these levels.

Interestingly enough, the plant manager also noted that Giga Berlin only has 3,200 vehicles– about three days’ worth of last year’s production–in its warehouse. This suggests that current demand for the revamped all-electric crossover is quite healthy. 

No Slowdowns

While Tesla has seen its sales dip in Germany in the past couple of months, Thierig noted that the company has no plans to downsize Gigafactory Berlin’s staff. He also highlighted that Gigafactory Berlin does not just provide vehicles to Germany—it also supplies the Model Y to dozens of territories, as noted in a CarUp report.

“There are no plans for production stops, staff reductions or downsizing. We have switched production from our previous model to the new Model Y, it takes time. We do not manufacture vehicles in bulk… We not only manufacture vehicles for the German market, but also for 37 other markets, both within and outside the EU,” the plant manager noted.

No Politics

Tesla is a lightning rod in Germany today, and so is CEO Elon Musk, but it is undeniable that Giga Berlin’s 11,000 jobs make it one of Brandenburg’s biggest economic contributors. Thierig, for his part, has highlighted that Giga Berlin is focused on producing cars, not entering political discourse. “We build cars and have never made any political statements,” the plant manager stated.

Elon Musk’s X has clawed its way back to a valuation of $44 billion, a sharp rebound from its estimated value following the Tesla CEO’s turbulent takeover in 2022.

Information about the social media platform’s recent valuation was shared by the Financial Times in a recent report.

Back to $44 Billion

Citing people reportedly familiar with the matter, the FT noted that investors valued Elon Musk’s X at $44 billion in a secondary deal earlier this month. During the deal, investors reportedly exchanged existing stakes in the social media platform. The publication’s sources also claimed that X is working on raising fresh capital in a primary round that is aimed at raising around $2 billion, which would be used to pay off over $1 billion in junior debt from Musk’s 2022 Twitter buyout. 

X’s $44 billion valuation is a stunning reversal from the company’s previous estimates. Just last September, Fidelity Investments valued X below $10 billion. Interestingly enough, Fidelity was also one of the investors in X’s recent funding round. Other investors included Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, 8VC, and Goanna Capital.

Musk’s Cost-Cutting Pays Off

Musk’s serious cost-cutting measures caught a lot of flak following his acquisition of Twitter. So notable were the criticisms of Musk’s drastic cuts that critics were expecting Twitter to go offline and die. This, however, did not come to pass, though the company had to crawl its way out of the ditch to get to where it is now.

During the last full year before Musk’s takeover, Twitter reported adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) of about $682 million and about $5 billion in revenue. In 2024, X had an EBITDA of about $1.25 billion and annual revenue of $2.7 billion. As per the Wall Street Journal, these figures were better than expected for X’s investors.

New Cash Streams and AI Power Up

X’s valuation is also boosted by the company’s stake in Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, xAI, which develops Grok, a large language model. X CEO Linda Yaccarino also noted that X Money, a Visa-backed payment service, is expected to be rolled out later this year. 

On March 18, 2025, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) posted a recall about the 2025 Tesla Cybertruck. According to the NHTSA report, the Tesla Cybertruck recall potentially affects around 46,096 units.

Tesla is recalling 2024-2025 Cybertruck vehicles due to an issue with the cant rail of the vehicles. In the NHTSA report, Tesla explains that the cant rail is the Cybertruck’s stainless-steel exterior trim panel. Select units of 2024-2025 Cybertrucks have cant rails that “can delaminate and detach from the vehicle.”

“Tesla service will replace the cant rail assembly, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed on May 19, 2025. Owners may contact Tesla customer service at 1-877-798-3752. Tesla’s number for this recall is SB-25-10-001,” the NHTSA report stated.

The recall affects 2024-2025 Tesla Cybertruck vehicles manufactured from November 13, 2023, to February 27, 2025. Tesla first became aware of the potential issue on January 7, 2025, during a routine monitoring of field repairs. At the time, it becomes aware of a field complaint relating to partial delamination of the cant rail stainless steel panel. By January 13, 2025, Tesla launched an engineering study to investigate the issue. In early February 2025, the engineering study’s inspection and pull tests concluded “no detections of separation.”

On February 21, 2025, the NHTSA ODI informed Tesla of a vehicle owner questionnaire (VOQ) that alleged cant rail panel detachment. Between February to early March, Tesla investigated the allegations, seeing complaints on social media and service records.

On March 11, 2025, Tesla decided to voluntarily recall the Cybertruck due to the cant rail panel detachment issue. It later determined that 151 warranty claims might be related to the issue. Fortunately, the Tesla Cybertruck issue has not resulted in any collisions, injuries, or fatalities.