MARCH 25, 2001 — COMPETITION INCREASES
Financial analysts covering Tesla are noting that Ford’s Mustang MACH-3 and entries from Volkswagen and General Motors, companies with significant manufacturing expertise and deep pockets.
Tesla’s advantage lies in its “cool” factor and a large number of charger locations. Tesla touts itself as a technology company that happens to make cars. Look for major improvements in production and pricing with local manufacturing in Europe and Asia.
MAY 15, 2008 — Original post…
It appears that Elon Musk’s bubble at Tesla may be closer to popping as the CEO announced that the company is undertaking a restructuring of its management structure. Or according to Musk, “flattening the management structure.”
What else could he possibly tell investors when a number of high-ranking members of the management team have left – and one, the head of engineering, claims to be on sabbatical at a time when the automaker is struggling to meet its own projections and ramp-up Model 3 production.
“To ensure that Tesla is well prepared for the future, we have been undertaking a thorough reorganization of our company. As part of the reorg, we are flattening the management structure to improve communication, combining functions where sensible and trimming activities that are not vital to the success of our mission.
To be clear, we will continue to hire rapidly in critical hourly and salaried positions to support the Model 3 production ramp and future product development.”
The purpose of a legitimate effort in flattening layers of management is to eliminate superfluous, redundant, and costly layers of managers and supervisors between the management team and the employees who actually work for a living. Considering Musk lives at the plant and is said to sleep on the production floor, one wonders how anything can speed up decision-making and problem-solving.
Considering Musk is also heavily involved in the other activities involving SpaceX, The Boring Company, SolarCity, and various Chinese ventures, one wonders how much more time, effort, and energy Musk can expend before crashing.
Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?