Tesla halts production at Model 3 line in California
Tesla Inc has told workers it will temporarily halt some production at its car assembly plant in California, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Workers on a Model 3 production line in Fremont were told their line would be down from Feb. 22 until March 7, according to the report. The report did not clarify the reason for the halt and Tesla could not be immediately reached for comment. It was also unclear how much volume or revenue Tesla would lose due to the production halt. The Fremont plant has an annual production capacity of 500,000 Model 3s and Model Ys combined.
Tesla said last month that it might face a temporary impact from a global semiconductor shortage. Several automakers, including General Motors Co, Volkswagen AG, and Ford Motor Co, are hit by the shortage of chips, forcing them to scale down production.
Meanwhile, German luxury carmaker Daimler said on Wednesday that its plan to spin off Daimler Trucks will allow the world's largest truck and bus maker to become more profitable and focus more on developing technologies to cut carbon emissions.
The spin-off plan, announced earlier this month, should make the unit more agile, profitable and able to develop CO2-neutral drive technologies for trucks and buses, Daimler said in a statement.
Daimler said the truck business had seen a recovery in the fourth quarter, especially in North America and Europe, selling 121,000 units, almost double that of the second quarter, when sales were hit by the coronavirus pandemic. For 2021, Daimler Trucks forecasts revenue to be significantly above the prior-year level and is aiming for a significant increase in adjusted return on sales to 6-7%, up from 2% in 2020.
Meanwhile, Aston Martin expects to almost double sales and move back towards profitability this year after sinking deeper into the red in 2020, when the luxury carmaker was hit by the pandemic, changed its boss and was forced to raise cash.
The British company's shares jumped 9% in early Thursday trading after it kept a forecast for around 6,000 sales to dealers this year as new management turns around its performance.
The carmaker of choice for fictional secret agent James Bond has had a tough time since floating in 2018, as it failed to meet expectations and burnt through cash, prompting it to seek fresh investment from billionaire Executive Chairman Lawrence Stroll.
The firm made a 466-million pound ($660 million) loss last year, compared with a 120 million pound loss in 2019, as sales to dealers fell by 42% to 3,394 vehicles, hit by the closure of showrooms and factories due to COVID-19.
For 2021, it expects "to see the first steps towards improved profitability" but is still likely to post a pre-tax loss, the carmaker said. "I am extremely pleased with the progress to date despite operating in these most challenging of times," Stroll said.
Aston said demand for its first sport utility vehicle, the DBX, which rolled off the production line at its Welsh plant in 2020, was strong in a lucrative segment of the market it entered to widen its appeal. The model accounted for 1,516 of deliveries to dealers last year and the company expects further growth in its first full-year of sales, including in the key market of China, where rivals such as Bentley are also seeing high demand.