You could argue whether this is a good or bad sign, but Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter today to confirm a report that he has taken over direct control of the division that produces the Tesla Model 3 electric sedan after the company failed to meet the delivery targets it set.
Specifically, Tesla intended to produce 500 Model 3 vehicles per day, or 2,500 per week, by the end of last month. But according to a company email sent to all employees today and obtained by Jalopnik, Musk said Tesla is approaching 2,000 cars per week. (Musk estimated last July that Tesla would build 20,000 cars a month by December.)
In his email - which launched at 3 a.m. PT - Musk added that if " Things are going as planned today and we will comfortably surpass that number in seven days! "
Musk may have been referring to a restructuring. But despite the Information reporting that Musk appeared to "oust Doug Fields, the company's senior vice president of engineering, who had been overseeing manufacturing in recent months," Musk was quick to characterize the incident.
He complained to reporter Amir Efrati on Twitter, "Can't believe you're even writing this. As CEO, my focus is on the most critical part, which is current Model 3 production. Doug, I think is one of the most talented engineering executives in the world, focused solely on automotive engineering."
Musk continued, tweeting: "About a year ago, I asked Doug to manage engineering and production. He agreed that Tesla needed [engineering and production] to be better aligned so we didn't design cars that would be very difficult to build. Now, it's better to divide and conquer, so I went back to the factory and slept. The car industry is hell..."
Musk's sensitivity to press coverage will come as no surprise to anyone who follows the company, given the spate of negative publicity Tesla has received in recent weeks.
In addition to a voluntary recall of 123,000 Model S vehicles due to problems with a power steering component in some cars, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration last week launched an investigation into the role of Tesla's Autopilot in fatal crashes.
In fact, in a series of separate tweets today, Musk responded to the National Transportation Safety Board, a safety agency, saying it was "unhappy" with Tesla's decision on Friday to publish a blog post about the accident, given the ongoing investigation.
In that article, Tesla said the driver, identified as an Apple engineer, "received several visual and audible manual warnings earlier in the drive and was not detected six seconds before the collision." The driver's hands were on the wheel. "The company also noted that highway safety barriers that might have mitigated the impact of the collision "were shattered without a prior incident."
The suggestion is obvious that Tesla cannot be blamed for the deaths, at least not entirely.
Publicly dismayed by NTSB's new response to Tesla, Musk posted these details today, writing on Twitter, "A lot of respect for the NTSB, but NHTSA regulates cars, not the NTSB, which is an advisory body." Tesla's immediate impact Important crash data for public safety. Otherwise it would be unsafe."
Tesla closed down 5.1% today at $252.48.
Zhang Yue 