Follow us today...
Recently, Tesla underwent a massive restructuring effort. Elon Musk and his top management team let go of 10% of Tesla’s workforce, or about 15,000 employees, in a single day.
Not only did Musk reduce the workforce, but he also restructured the Tesla executive team. This included requesting the resignation of Tesla’s head of charging, Tesla’s head of new products, and the entire 500-person charging team.
Elon Musk is implementing these changes as part of a strategic cost-cutting plan following Tesla's massive negative cash flow of $2.4 billion in the first quarter of 2024. These measures aim to streamline operations and improve financial stability.
The reason behind the restructuring efforts is understandable; however, Musk and Tesla might have gone a bit overboard in their cost-cutting measures.
Brandon (@Teslaflexx), a regular Tesla customer, recently visited his preferred Tesla service center in Loveland, Colorado. The main reason for his visit was to get work done on his Model 3. However, during his stay, Brandon had the opportunity to talk to Tesla employees and observe the situation at the service center, leading him to conclude that the employees are overworked and the service center is understaffed.
Related News: Look At My Numbers After Trading My Lexus EX 350 To Tesla Model Y and My Allstate to Tesla Insurance
Following his visit, Brandon wrote, “Hey Elon Musk, I think you fired too many people at the service centers. My Loveland service center said they must stop deliveries for a few months to focus on sales and service since they are understaffed.”
Tesla is recently running a promotional deal offering new owners appealing financing rates as low as 0.99% APR. Brandon followed his message to Elon Musk, stating, “Pretty bad timing to let service center employees go before introducing the 0.99% deal…”
Finally, Brandon added, “The Tesla service center has two delivery specialists (and one more helping) today. They delivered five different Model Ys when I was just checking out the work done on my Model 3.”
An understaffed Tesla center holding up deliveries and compromising service quality is bad enough. However, in the comments, Brandon added that the pictures of over ten Cybertrucks he shared parked at the service center are all customer-assigned Cybertrucks. However, deliveries can’t take place because there aren’t enough employees to do so.
And yes, all these Cybertrucks are customer assigned vehicles. Just a bit understaffed…
— Brandon (@teslaflexx) May 22, 2024
Tesla has spent tens of thousands building each of these Cybertrucks and transporting them from the Texas factory to the service center. In addition, there is a huge demand for Cybertrucks, and customers are already starting to be frustrated with having to wait for more than four years to purchase their vehicles.
However, once the trucks are produced and sitting on the lot, deliveries are held up once more because there aren’t enough employees to process them and hand them over to customers, adding insult to injury.
As mentioned, the cost-cutting measures Elon Musk has implemented throughout Tesla are understandable. However, the cost-cutting measures should not come at the expense of customer satisfaction, and in this particular example, stopping people from giving Tesla their hard-earned money to purchase a vehicle.
In his post, Brandon explained that the work he needed done on his Tesla Model 3 seemed incomplete, and the staff seemed unable to address the issue.
More than a million people have reserved a Cybertruck and are waiting for Tesla to deliver their trucks. Luckily, Tesla appears to have completed most of the hard work when it comes to actually building the truck.
The latest data shows that the Cybertruck production ramp is going smoothly and that Tesla is producing more than 200 Cybertrucks daily. In other words, the company has already hit a production run rate of 75,000 Cybertrucks per year.
If Tesla can sustain this output, the Cybertruck will be on track to become the best-selling electric truck in the US by the end of the year.
Given the success of the production ramp, we hope Tesla and Elon Musk will be more selective about the cost-cutting measures.
A Tesla owner recently experienced an issue with his safety restraint system. In any other car, you have to take it to a shop and spend $120 to perform an OBD reading; however, Tesla diagnoses itself & automatically schedules a service appointment. @tesla_na @Tesla @elonmusk… pic.twitter.com/49q6u1aA4M
— Torque News (@torquenewsauto) May 23, 2024
Having said that, one fair point to make here is that even though major restructurings are taking place at Tesla, some in the comment section below Brandon’s post have noted that service has never been better at their preferred Tesla center.
In response to Brandon’s Tesla Loveland service center experience, Chris Durrett wrote, “Odd, my experience at the Fort Worth location was the best I have had in 4 years as a Tesla owner. I was in and out quickly with a clean loaner. Three service reps, one sales rep, and four techs were all seen in my 30 minutes there.”
Currently, there is no definitive way to state whether the problems at the Loveland Tesla service center are a one-off or if customer service is being compromised throughout Tesla to cut costs.
However, we’ll be sure to keep you posted as the dust settles on Tesla's recent massive restructuring efforts. Until then, visit our site, torquenews.com/Tesla, regularly for the latest updates.
So, what do you think? Are you surprised that there are currently several Cybertrucks at Tesla service centers ready to be handed over to customers but held up due to understaffed service centers? Do you support Elon Musk’s decision to let go of 15,000 Tesla employees in a single day? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below by clicking the red “Add new comment” button.
Image: Courtesy of Tesla, inc.
For more information, check out: My Tesla is Showing a Safety Restraint System Fault; However, Rather Than Paying $120 for an OBD Reading, My Tesla Diagnoses Itself & Automatically Set Up a Service Plan in 30 Seconds
Tinsae Aregay has been following Tesla and the evolution of the EV space daily for several years. He covers everything about Tesla, from the cars to Elon Musk, the energy business, and autonomy. Follow Tinsae on Twitter at @TinsaeAregay for daily Tesla news.
Follow us today...
