Tesla To Reduce Shifts At Giga Berlin, Keep Production On Track

Saturday shifts will be canceled and fewer temporary workers will be hired.

Tesla Giga Berlin Model Y general assembly

Iulian Dnistran

By: Iulian Dnistran

Jun 16, 2023 at 5:01am ET

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Tesla will cut Saturday shifts and hire fewer temporary workers than it did during its ramp-up phase at its Giga Berlin manufacturing facility in Germany, but even with fewer assembly line workers, production is still on track to reach self-imposed targets, according to Reuters.

The American EV brand offered the update after Business Insider reported yesterday that Tesla’s goal of assembling 6,000 cars a week at the Berlin-Brandenburg site was on hold.

Tesla reached the production milestone of 5,000 Model Ys manufactured per week at its German factory back in March and then filled up all the positions needed for a third shift, which is necessary if the company wants to increase production.

Gallery: Tesla Giga Berlin (Tesla Gigafactory 4)

Tesla Giga Berlin (Tesla Gigafactory 4)

Tesla Giga Berlin (Gigafactory 4) - Model Y factory construction October, 2020 Tesla Giga Berlin (Tesla Gigafactory 4)

In April, German publication rbb24 speculated that Tesla was looking to hire more people for a potential fourth shift that would be able to double production and reach 10,000 cars per week, but now it seems that this isn’t the case anymore.

The Austin-based electric car maker currently employs around 10,000 people at its factory in Grunheide, Germany, but the Reuters report doesn’t mention how many people will lose their jobs after the decision to cut the Saturday shift goes into effect.

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Tesla only makes the Model Y electric crossover in Germany, which was the best-selling EV in Europe in the January, with a little over 7,000 units delivered across the Old Continent. This means the American EV outsold every other battery-powered car on the market, including the much more affordable (and smaller) Dacia Spring, which was sold in about 4,200 units in the first month of 2023. The Model Y starts at $49,165 (44,890 Euro) in Germany, while the Dacia Spring goes from $24,900 (22,750 Euro).

The Berlin-Brandenburg factory started production in March 2022 and in June it was already making 1,000 cars per week. The rate doubled in October and in December it reached 3,000 units weekly. The next milestone was ticked off in February 2023, when a production rate of 4,000 EVs was reached, and one month later Giga Berlin was making 5,000 cars per week.