EV giant Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) has reportedly informed its workers on the Cybertruck production line at its gigafactory in Texas to take three days off starting from Tuesday.
What Happened: Tesla told its employees in a memo seen by Business Insider that workers need not report to work on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Workers would return to Cybertruck’s production line on Friday and would receive eight hours of pay for each day they were scheduled to work. However, some workers will not have the same schedule and will be notified separately, the memo reportedly added.
Tesla did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for comment.
According to the report, the schedule of workers working at the Cybertruck line has been inconsistent since late October.
Why It Matters: Tesla started delivering the Cybertruck to customers in the U.S. in November 2023. Months prior to starting deliveries, company CEO Elon Musk said that scaling production and not demand would be the biggest hurdle for Cybertruck given its strong order book. Musk then said that the company already has over a million pre-orders for the vehicle.
However, upon the start of deliveries, the vehicle was priced significantly higher than the estimated price provided at the time of the vehicle’s unveiling in 2019, possibly deterring reservation holders from making the purchase.
According to data from automotive research company Kelley Blue Book, Tesla sold 16,692 Cybertrucks in the third quarter in the U.S., trumping EV trucks from rivals including the Ford F-150 Lightning and the Rivian R1T, to become the third-best-selling EV behind Model Y and Model 3.
However, the company had bigger ambitions for the Cybertruck with Musk previously saying that the company is aiming to make up to 250,000 Cybertrucks in 2025.
However, Tesla is not the only one to temporarily pause the production of its EV pickup. Last month, Benzinga reported that Ford will pause the production of its F-150 Lightning pickup truck for six weeks from Nov. 18 to Jan.6 at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Plant.
“We continue to adjust production for an optimal mix of sales growth and profitability," Ford said about the decision then.
Price Action: Tesla stock closed at $357.09 on Monday, up by 3.5%. In after-hours trading, it fell 1.2%. Year-to-date, the stock has risen 43.7%, according to Benzinga Pro data.
The Tesla stock has a consensus “Buy” rating from analysts, with the highest price target being $411. According to the three most recent analyst ratings released by Roth MKM, Stifel, and UBS, the stock has an average price target of $339, which implies a 5% downside from the current price.
Check out more of Benzinga’s Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.
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