Elon Musk takes charge of Tesla Model 3 production

Elon Musk announced via Twitter that he'd be taking over Tesla Model 3 production from former Apple exec Doug Field.

This news comes as no surprise given Tesla's woes of late, with Model 3 production numbers being lower than anticipated, downgraded credit, slipping stock prices and a recent Autopilot-related fatal Model X crash.

About a year ago, I asked Doug to manage both engineering & production. He agreed that Tesla needed eng & prod better aligned, so we don’t design cars that are crazy hard to build. Right now, tho, better to divide & conquer, so I’m back to sleeping at factory. Car biz is hell …

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 2, 2018

Field is being reassigned to the vehicle design team, according to Musk, where Musk says his talents would be better put to use. Field has been instrumental in his work at Tesla since coming on board in 2013.

Currently, based on estimates, Model 3 production is around 20 percent below what it should be based on goals outlined during the most recent quarterly earnings call. The hope was that a new manufacturing line at Gigafactory 1 in Nevada would remove one of the production bottlenecks keeping the Model 3 from being produced at scale.

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In addition to delays in manufacturing, some owners who have received their Model 3s have been less than enthused with the quality of components and the fit of body panels. These issues too will likely have to be addressed sooner, rather than later.

Tesla representatives could not be reached for comment.