A recent report from Germany has emerged stating that Tesla Giga Berlin had produced its 400,000th vehicle at the end of September. The milestone was achieved two and a half years after the facility started its Model Y production.
Citing internal chat messages from Tesla Germany on September 25, Handelsblatt claimed that the electric vehicle maker celebrated the accomplishment by giving its employees an extended break and a pizza party. As per the publication, however, Giga Berlin plant manager André Thierig was not necessarily ecstatic about the milestone.
While achieving a production of 400,000 vehicles in two and half years is relatively impressive, Thierig reportedly highlighted that other automakers in Germany are seeing notable chalenges as of late. Handelsblatt claimed that the executive asked the Tesla Germany team if they would like to find themselves in a similar situation as Volkswagen.
#GigaBerlinBrandenburg
— Gigafactory Berlin News (@Gf4Tesla) October 8, 2024
GigaBerlin produced the 400,000th #ModelY at the end of September 2024.
Great achievement,
made in Germany.https://t.co/kudrqAhlyP pic.twitter.com/A1WKYtrQ9J
As noted in a report from Ecomento, Volkswagen is currently facing a number of challenges. The automaker is reportedly increasing its savings targets and is considering layoffs. Volkswagen is reportedly not ruling out plant closures as well.
“I’m not trying to do any kind of VW bashing or anything. (But what is happening in Wolfsburg is really) very, very, very dramatic,” Thierig reportedly noted.
The Giga Berlin plant manager reportedly highlighted that Volkswagen is one of the world’s largest carmakers, but the company is currently facing dark times. “Yes, it really looks bad… You all have to ask yourselves the question now, not here, not today, but fundamentally: Do you want us to take this path too?” Thierig reportedly stated.
Giga Berlin currently produces only one vehicle: the Tesla Model Y, which happens to be the company’s best-selling model and the world’s best-selling passenger vehicle by volume last year. Despite its high sales numbers, the Model Y is still a premium all-electric crossover whose price is out of reach for car buyers with a tight budget.
Thierig, for his part, reportedly urged the Tesla Germany team to continue pushing forward. “We want to be back in the sun. We don’t want to end up like the others. We should continue to grow, we should continue to be successful together, we shouldn’t have to go down that path one day,” he said.
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