According to CEO Elon Musk, Tesla finally hit its weekly production goal of 5,000 Tesla Model 3s. News of the milestone travelled fast — as just about anything related to Tesla does.
Despite skepticism, several organizational changes, numerous manufacturing issues, and even sabotage Tesla said it shipped a total of 7,000 cars last week (7,000 cars / 7 days). Of those, 5,000 were the critical Model 3.
7000 cars, 7 days
♥️ Tesla Team ♥️— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 1, 2018
There is, of course, many ways to digest and analyze this bit of news:
- TSLA stock can potentially be seen as slightly less risky, at least in the short term.
- Tesla is closer to achieving mainstream success (the Model 3 starts at around $35,000 USD — but rises quickly with options).
- When Elon Musk steps in personally and commits to a goal he’s a force to be reckoned with.
- A huge market opportunity exists in the mid-market sedan segment (BMW 3-series, Audi A4, Mercedes C-Class) for a high performance electric offering. Tesla has the early lead.
- Who needs a dashboard?!
But of all the analysis out there — and there’s a lot — my favorite line is by Musk himself who said about reaching 7,000 cars in 7 days:
“I think we just became a real car company”.
That’s what Musk wrote in an email to the company on July 1, 2018. See below for the full memo.
From: Elon Musk
To: Everybody
Subj. 7000
Jul. 1, 12:37 PMWe did it!! What an incredible job by an amazing team. Couldn’t be more proud to work with you. It is an honor.
The level of dedication and creativity was mind-blowing. We either found a way or, by will and inventiveness, created entirely new solutions that were thought impossible.
Intense in tents. Transporting entire production lines across the world in massive cargo planes. Whatever. It worked.
Not only did we factory gate over 5000 Model 3’s, but we also achieved the S & X production target for a combined 7000 vehicle week!
What’s more, with the widespread productivity gains throughout Tesla and the new production lines spooling up, we are on track to reach 6k/week for Model 3 next month.
I think we just became a real car company …
Thank you for your hard work and dedication,
Elon
If Tesla goes on to become an All-American success story for the 21st century I think this moment in time, and particularly this quote, will go down in automotive history. If not business history. Who knew an up-start electric car company based out of Fremont, California could come this far, this fast?