
Tesla’s Musk Takes Charge of Model 3 Production as Problems Persist - bobsil1
https://www.theinformation.com/articles/teslas-musk-takes-charge-of-model-3-production-as-problems-persist
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beltex
_" Can’t believe you’re even writing about this. My job as CEO is to focus on
what’s most critical, which is currently Model 3 production. Doug, who I
regard as one of the world’s most talented engineering execs, is focused on
vehicle engineering."_

 _" About a year ago, I asked Doug to manage both engineering & production. He
agreed that Tesla needed eng & prod better aligned, so we don’t design cars
that are crazy hard to build. Right now, tho, better to divide & conquer, so
I’m back to sleeping at factory. Car biz is hell …"_

[1]
[https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/980910671763193856](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/980910671763193856)

[2]
[https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/980913157739765761](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/980913157739765761)

~~~
loceng
I can only imagine how much experience and knowledge Elon is gaining by
micromanaging (a good thing) this much, compared to say how much the top
executive at other vehicle manufacturers have evolved to become.

Edit: Downvotes on this comment? Really? What, do you think you're able to
imagine the amount of experience he's getting? Do you think the top execs at
other manufacturers have the same experience and hands-on approach?

~~~
stannol
From personal experience I can say that I am certain that both Dieter Zetsche
and Harald Krüger know more about basically every aspect of producing cars
than Elon Musk ever will. Both are very much hands-on people and have 3-4
decades of experience.

~~~
greglindahl
You know all 3 of these people well? Wow.

~~~
ucaetano
"Zetsche joined Daimler-Benz in 1976, working in the research department. In
1981, he became Assistant Development Manager at the Vehicles business unit.
He became a member of DaimlerChrysler's Board of Management in 1998 and served
as the President/CEO of Chrysler Group from mid-2000 to 31 December 2005,
where he was credited with a turnaround of DCX's American operations. Since 1
January 2006 he succeeded Jürgen Schrempp as Chairman of DaimlerChrysler (now
Daimler AG), being succeeded in the position of Chrysler Group CEO by Thomas
W. LaSorda."

and

"Mr. Krüger joined BMW in April 1992 and served as Director of its Production
Strategy, Control and Planning Division. He managed BMW Group's engine plant
at Hams Hall in the UK and served a number of positions within the Human
Resources division. He served as the Chairman and Director of Rolls-Royce
Motor Cars Ltd. from May 1, 2012 to March 31, 2013. Mr. Krüger serves as a
Director of BMW Manufacturing Co. LLC."

Yep, quite a fair bet that any of those two know far more about auto-making
than Musk ever will.

~~~
annerajb
Ever is a long timeframe especially if Tesla continues selling double yoy.

~~~
FireBeyond
I'm not sure how Musk's experience grows with sales on a linear basis.

Or how sustainable "double yoy" sales are.

------
keyle
I have no interest or involvment in Tesla. But from an outsider's perspective
I can't help but notice that when you're this little company with no chance of
making it, the press is very bulish about your company.

As soon as you become large, they look up at you and can't wait to see you
fall, overly negative.

Who thought making cars was difficult? And mass production? And electrical
cars, pushing the boundaries or batteries.

The light are still on in the factory, so the company's doing well.

~~~
WheelsAtLarge
His big problem is over promise. Yes, he promises big but does not deliver.
The press loves to play both sides. It reports the promises and the lack of
delivery on his part too. The press couldn't care either way as long as it
brings in readers.

~~~
heisenbergs
He only overpromises when it comes to timelines. Most other things he actually
achieves. Elontime is a real thing though...

~~~
VVyattPrentice
FWIW a Martian year is 687 days.

~~~
dx034
Unfortunately that's not their financial year. They still need to generate
cash or find more investors.

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jijojv
Learn much from overcommitting and under-delivering yet [1]

Still waiting on the self-driving vaporware that thousands paid advance for...

1\.
[https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/823727035088416768](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/823727035088416768)
3 months maybe, 6 months definitely 23 Jan 2017

~~~
Shivetya
The NHTSA faulted Tesla for the last fatal crash and its likely they will get
faulted for the current. I am just shocked that after this one that they
haven't suspended its use. The level of chutzpah this company operates at is
very dangerous to its future but the public as well.

The production issues are a whole different can of worms but the autonomous
driving accidents are what the public sees.

People need to understand that Tesla is not the only company that can deliver
self driving hardware nor are they the only manufacturer of EVs. They are
currently the maker of the more desired EV but with some of the old school
automakers joining the fray they will see their high end model profit vanish.

finally, I am still not convinced they ever plan to actually sell a base
model.

 _downvote edit_ Please see an owner recreation using the same version AP with
the same condition
z[https://youtu.be/6QCF8tVqM3I](https://youtu.be/6QCF8tVqM3I)

What is the rational thought it permitting that on the road.

~~~
calvinbhai
The same rationale that applies for allowing cars with Cruise Control? Is it
impossible to have a fatal crash when you set the car on cruise control and
doze off? Chances are probably exponentially higher than that of a Tesla on an
Autopilot.

~~~
mdorazio
No, the same rationale does not apply at all. It's not even close. Cruise
control does nothing but maintain a set speed. No steering, no lane assist,
nothing else. All drivers know that if they set cruise control, they are still
in control of the car and have to remain aware of the road to handle all the
actual driving while their foot gets a break. On the other hand, here was a
conversation with my dad in his Model 3 yesterday:

Me: Why aren't your hands on the wheel?

Him: They don't need to be. It tells me once in a while when I need to touch
the wheel.

Think about that for a minute. This is representative of your average driver.
People are so blindly trusting of autopilot that they deliberately don't even
touch the wheel at all, opting instead to play with their phone until the car
nags them to pay attention for one second.

This is so completely different than cruise control that the two are barely
comparable in terms of driver mindset.

~~~
shanghaiaway
That's not even the average driver, but an early adopter. The average driver
would more likely think they can take a nap in the back seat while autopilot
drives them to the office.

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rdlecler1
I think Musk is outstanding, but I could never see how he could run SpaceX,
Tesla, OpenAI, the Boaring Company, Hyperloop all at the same time. It could
be twice as Smart as the next smartest individual on the planet but there’s no
free lunch. Time spent in one place is time given up somewhere else. We’ve
known that Tesla has had production problems for a long time and if I was on
the board I would have said drop all of your side projects and focus on fixing
this company. I’m sure Musk has fired people for a lot less.

------
trollied
Musk has tweeted:

“Can’t believe you’re even writing about this. My job as CEO is to focus on
what’s most critical, which is currently Model 3 production. Doug, who I
regard as one of the world’s most talented engineering execs, is focused on
vehicle engineering.”

[https://mobile.twitter.com/elonmusk/status/98091067176319385...](https://mobile.twitter.com/elonmusk/status/980910671763193856)

~~~
praneshp
He has also tweeted : "About a year ago, I asked Doug to manage both
engineering & production. He agreed that Tesla needed eng & prod better
aligned, so we don’t design cars that are crazy hard to build. Right now, tho,
better to divide & conquer, so I’m back to sleeping at factory. Car biz is
hell …"

[https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/980913157739765761](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/980913157739765761)

------
dewski
This article feels a bit over reaching to meet the current narrative that
Tesla is failing. As someone who has owned a Tesla, I'd much rather they ramp
when they are ready to ramp than skip steps just to hit their targets. QA is a
very important step that they have to get right.

------
Someone1234
Here's an article not behind a paywall:

[https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/02/elon-musk-takes-charge-of-
te...](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/02/elon-musk-takes-charge-of-tesla-
model-3-production.html)

~~~
amerine
Thanks!

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agumonkey
I thought he was already sleeping at the factory..

I wish success to Tesla, at least a little bit, but I'm really curious to know
how they fixed their assembly line

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serf
Ah yes, the tried-and-true method of jump-starting a project by adding
managers.

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mvpu
Wait. The author wants me to pay for what appears to be an outside-in,
uneducated, irrelevant take on Tesla's internal problems? No thank you. Let
them deal with it.

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mdekkers
paywalled

