Tesla Milestone: 5 Millionth Car Manufactured

[DwightFrye]

It was just announced yesterday that Tesla has produced its five millionth car. They produced their fourth millionth car just this past March. That's one million cars produced in just the last 6 months. Pretty impressive for a manufacturer that only makes EV's and the bulk of those produced comprise of only three models and really only the Model 3 and Model Y in the largest numbers.

It's difficult to find exact numbers for other US EV manufacturers but it looks like Ford has built around 200,000 and GM has built around ?
They have been selling ~ 20,000 per quarter this year.

Ford says they plan to build 2 million EV's a year by 2026 and GM is looking to have similar numbers. Stellantis seems to still be in the also ran category.

Now GM and Ford are dealing with a UAW strike that has outrageous demands for hourly pay and pension benefits. I have often stated that the biggest challenge for the legacy automakers is going to be coming up with the enormous amounts of capital necessary to expand and modernize their plants to build EV's and that is provided they have already spent the money to come up with innovative new designs and production methods.

Competition is good for the EV marketplace. But the US legacy automakers are going to have a rough row to hoe for quite a while. In the meantime Tesla will continue to have huge amounts of cash coming in from not only their EV sales but from their rapidly emerging other business units.
Things don't look good for Ford and GM.

 

[alarmguy]

Tesla I think is going to have a rough time keeping up with the legacy's, Time will tell.
GM vehicle sales climbing dramatically this year. Does not matter if it is EV or ICE, its 4 wheel vehicles that Americans buy.
WIth that said, in the next two years GM will be also in the EV arena. That is when this will get interesting. Thank god Tesla has China, they need it, to this day Tesla does not report USA sales, after all, they will then be compared to USA sales of GM.

No question about one negative though is USA unions. Many proponents of unions in here, except when it comes to talking about other companies without them, and their large profit margins. GM doing pretty good considering and why the Union is demanding outrageous increases. Good news is, at least their Mexico operations are not affected, I'll give credit to Tesla for staying out of the USA as much as possible.

https://gmauthority.com/blog/2023/07/gm-sales-figures-numbers-results-united-states-q2-2023/

https://gmauthority.com/blog/2023/04/gm-sales-figures-numbers-results-united-states-q1-2023/

The question will be, will Tesla be able to keep the type of sales increases GM does once they get up to the number of vehicles GM produces? I mean, Tesla is losing market share as I type this and GM barely started entering the EV part of the industry. Meanwhile that is all Tesla has is EV.

They have a way to go to proven themselves in the USA but granted world wide it's looking good for them but China is always going to be a wild card. GM in June all by itself sold 175,000 more cars in the USA than Tesla.

 

[Passport1]

Re: UAW strike. Someone recently, accused the auto companies of making huge profits on the backs of the workers and not sharing the lucre with them. Companies share profits with stockholders, employees too if they own stock. Most people know better but a dotard couldn't understand companies do not exist to give people jobs. There's a whole lot of people pushing a whole lot of sophistry out there.

BTW I bought Tesla stock but not the car.

Tesla Inc
NASDAQ: TSLA

 

[alarmguy]

Re: UAW strike. Someone recently, accused the auto companies of making huge profits on the backs of the workers and not sharing the lucre with them. Companies share profits with stockholders, employees too if they own stock. Most people know better but a dotard couldn't understand companies do not exist to give people jobs. There's a whole lot of people pushing a whole lot of sophistry out there.

BTW I bought Tesla stock but not the car.

View attachment 179374
Tesla Inc
NASDAQ: TSLA

Yes, it freaking drives me nuts. This workers make a more than fair income compared to the non union automakers. This is what eats up companies. I only wish the media (never would happen) would list the incomes of the auto union workers compared to the non union workers, ha! That would be too much work and would be against the "agenda" Oh, forget the "agenda" that is too complimentary to todays media. They are just clueless about business and what makes a country productive.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Yes, it freaking drives me nuts. This workers make a more than fair income compared to the non union automakers. This is what eats up companies. I only wish the media (never would happen) would list the incomes of the auto union workers compared to the non union workers, ha! That would be too much work and would be against the "agenda" Oh, forget the "agenda" that is too complimentary to todays media. They are just clueless about business and what makes a country productive.

As I understand it tenure is required in order to receive the prevailing union wage. I seem to remember reading it was around 5 yrs before one is eligible.

 

[Pablo]

In for the Li fire posts.

 

[demarpaint]

Yes, it freaking drives me nuts. This workers make a more than fair income compared to the non union automakers. This is what eats up companies. I only wish the media (never would happen) would list the incomes of the auto union workers compared to the non union workers, ha! That would be too much work and would be against the "agenda" Oh, forget the "agenda" that is too complimentary to todays media. They are just clueless about business and what makes a country productive.

Maybe if Elon's team sees what the UAW guys get they'll be looking for more too. Granted they aren't unionized they can still get nasty and greedy and look for more.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I have been associated with a union for a short time as a tool and die helper. The wage was really good for the work.
I don't know much about the UAW strike, but I have no problem with anyone trying to better themselves.
It seems like so many people proclaim, "They already make too much", or whatever. Personally I like wage and benefit increases.

 

[Pablo]

I have been associated with a union for a short time as a tool and die helper. The wage was really good for the work.
I don't know much about the UAW strike, but I have no problem with anyone trying to better themselves.
It seems like so many people proclaim, "They already make too much", or whatever. Personally I like wage and benefit increases.

Again, no problem - but a strike? They were in no way in a last ditch situation. Not life or death. Plenty of pay increases. Not sure why greed would only apply to one side. Say no more.

 

[PimTac]

Again, no problem - but a strike? They were in no way in a last ditch situation. Not life or death. Plenty of pay increases. Not sure why greed would only apply to one side. Say no more.

I don’t know about the UAW but when I had to be in the SEIU the dues were a percentage of the gross pay for that period. In my case it was a hair over 2%.

So in that sense the unions do gain if the wages go up.

 

[Vercingetorix]

The only time I was on strike, management presented their side to the media. We were instructed to not discuss the bargaining points with the media. The media reported it was about a generous pay raise, increase in benefit etc etc etc. Nothing was further from the truth. It boiled down to one thing, the company wanted 100% control of the pension and that was never going to happen. The UAW strike may be similar.

 

[Zee09]

Well cars are so cheap now so give them a big pay raise and later put them in homeless shelters...

 

[Torrid]

The only time I was on strike, management presented their side to the media. We were instructed to not discuss the bargaining points with the media. The media reported it was about a generous pay raise, increase in benefit etc etc etc. Nothing was further from the truth. It boiled down to one thing, the company wanted 100% control of the pension and that was never going to happen. The UAW strike may be similar.

It's hard to control the narrative because they union wants to stay respectful and keep the actual contract points to the contract itself in my experience. I've never been UAW, but it seems like the companies will gladly come out swinging to win the war of public opinion by making unions look greedy. It's a dirty game.

 

[PandaBear]

I'll avoid the union strike related discussion to avoid locking this up. About Tesla vs legacy car companies, as I have said before, is about whether you see Tesla as a "car" company or a "tech" company. There will be no Tesla if they are just building cars like a car company, they will just go out of business, there is no profit making commodity cars.

What Tesla market itself is as a tech company, coming up with new tech, deploying new tech, and get capital from stock market by doing that. Tesla's product is the stock growth, not the cars (which is necessary but not the most important thing). This works very well when interest rate is super low and people need something to speculate on. The death of Tesla would come from a depression and financial side instead of union or car manufacturing side like a traditional car company. Strike related shortage may actually make Tesla "more" money than not striking.

It also helps that Tesla is not a legacy car company with legacy union factories. Tesla workers may want to think about what would happen if they strike. Since Tesla is not really about building cars but R&D tech, they can probably last longer than the union in a strike, and maybe just shut factory down and move it elsewhere. Sometimes it is good to start with a clean slate. I don't know what contract they got in Tesla but I think it would be quite different than the big 3.

 

[alarmguy]

It's hard to control the narrative because they union wants to stay respectful and keep the actual contract points to the contract itself in my experience. I've never been UAW, but it seems like the companies will gladly come out swinging to win the war of public opinion by making unions look greedy. It's a dirty game.

It's a dirty game for sure, and we have to admit, the union is just as dirty asking for a 40% pay increase. Turning down a 20% pay increase, demanding 4 day work week, right to strike over plant closings, limit temp workers. I mean, let's just retire the CEO and have Fain run the 3 automakers. Hence the problem with unions at times, thing is the UAW is not as powerful as one would believe anymore.
Already GM is laying off some Union workers ... because the strike is affecting supply, but you wont see the Union acknowledging that.
GM is already using "down time" to work on EV issues too.
To me its BS as someone else posted to expect the company to share profits with the workers, profits go to the investors. You wont see working striking to have their hourly pay cut when profits are down will you?

"The UAW's Fain on Sunday shot down an offer by Stellantis — which owns Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and RAM, along with major foreign brands including Citroën, Peugeot and Maserati — to hike its worker' wages by 21% over four years.

Ford and GM have also each offered a roughly 20% pay bump. The union is asking for a 36% hike over a four-year contract.

The union also wants the Big Three automakers to eliminate their two-tier wage model, which results in many workers earning less than the average wage of $32 an hour; offer defined benefit pensions to all employees; limit the the use of temporary workers; offer a four-day workweek; and provide more job protections, including the right to strike over plant closings.

"Our demands are just," Fain said on "Face the Nation." "We're asking for our fair share in this economy and the fruits of our labor."

 

[Torrid]

It's a dirty game for sure, and we have to admit, the union is just as dirty asking for a 40% pay increase. Turning down a 20% pay increase, demanding 4 day work week, right to strike over plant closings, limit temp workers. I mean, let's just retire the CEO and have Fain run the 3 automakers. Hence the problem with unions at times, thing is the UAW is not as powerful as one would believe anymore.
Already GM is laying off some Union workers ... because the strike is affecting supply, but you wont see the Union acknowledging that.
GM is already using "down time" to work on EV issues too.
To me its BS as someone else posted to expect the company to share profits with the workers, profits go to the investors. You wont see working striking to have their hourly pay cut when profits are down will you?

"The UAW's Fain on Sunday shot down an offer by Stellantis — which owns Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and RAM, along with major foreign brands including Citroën, Peugeot and Maserati — to hike its worker' wages by 21% over four years.

Ford and GM have also each offered a roughly 20% pay bump. The union is asking for a 36% hike over a four-year contract.

The union also wants the Big Three automakers to eliminate their two-tier wage model, which results in many workers earning less than the average wage of $32 an hour; offer defined benefit pensions to all employees; limit the the use of temporary workers; offer a four-day workweek; and provide more job protections, including the right to strike over plant closings.

"Our demands are just," Fain said on "Face the Nation." "We're asking for our fair share in this economy and the fruits of our labor."

I can't properly comment on this without it getting a bit rough. This is what I will say though. Everyone hears the percentage increase. How far have they went with no contract? I don't know the answer to that, but that was my situation. Our contract is a similar raise, but it accounts for 2 years of backpay where we didn't have any pay increase. All anyone hears is greed, but anyone involved knows that the contract covered where they were shorted and including the next few years of pay breakdown for the future which makes it sound huge.

The 4 day work week is what we refer to as work rules. Those won't get approved I'm sure. The only work rules we have is a couple of provisions to protect our off days and scheduled off days, but with out the protections we would have no way of making sure we were off for our off days and if you don't enact them each time in time every week you could end up in another state and still working into your off days. Beyond that our work hours are federally protected, so regardless of union we can't work more hours than legally allowed.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I imagine the 4 day work week is a bargaining chip and both sides know that.
For everyone saying the workers are greedy, please ask your boss to reduce your greedy salary.

Greed depends on which side of the deal you are on.

 

[Dave Hess]

I’m neutral on unions….. some are very good and others are terrible.

I’m in favor of any employee getting better pay, retirement and benefits.

 

[PandaBear]

Greed depends on which side of the deal you are on.

Exactly. I have no beef in this fight and I'm sure bargaining with strike is as old as capitalism. The only problem for union I see is their business model relies on monopoly and in 2023 I see no monopoly, so good luck to them if they want to strike against robots, right to work state, imports, and customers refusing to pay what they are asking and therefore their employers just cut their hours or not hiring. Recession / soft landing is coming and inflation control is a high priority from the Fed.

 

[alarmguy]

I can't properly comment on this without it getting a bit rough. This is what I will say though. Everyone hears the percentage increase. How far have they went with no contract? I don't know the answer to that, but that was my situation. Our contract is a similar raise, but it accounts for 2 years of backpay where we didn't have any pay increase. …

GM contact expired 5 days ago, 9/14/2023