Tesla (TSLA) to implement hiring freeze and new round of layoffs
Tesla (TSLA) has told employees that it is implementing a hiring freeze and confirmed that another wave of layoffs is coming next quarter, according to a source familiar with the matter.
In June, Elon Musk asked Tesla executives to “pause all hiring” and cut 10% of staff.
The CEO has given different reasons to different people for the layoffs, including that he has a “very bad feeling” about the economy.
Tesla has been growing fast over the years, and that often results in hiring inefficiencies that eventually lead to rounds of layoffs like this one.
The “hiring pause” was more worrisome as Tesla has several programs growing fast, and it needs to hire thousands of people at new factories in the US and Germany.
However, Tesla quickly reversed the hiring pause and started growing its hiring again during the second half of the year.
Now Electrek has learned that Tesla is implementing a new hiring freeze and plans further layoffs, according to a reliable source familiar with the matter.
Tesla has communicated to some employees that it is stopping hiring for now. On top of the hiring freeze, Tesla also said that teams will be expected to make layoffs during the first quarter of 2023.
It’s not clear how extensive the hiring freeze will be as Tesla is still planning to expand in some manufacturing locations. No further details were made available at this time.
The moves come as Tesla’s stock has been falling all year despite the company’s financials hitting new records virtually every quarter.
That’s partly due to a broader market downturn in 2022, but Tesla’s stock has not been tracking with the rest of the market over the last few months.
Here’s a comparison between TSLA and NASDAQ:
The timing of the more recent drops matches Musk’s acquisition of Twitter and his selling of Tesla shares to finance the social media platform.
Some signs have also creeped in as of late indicating that Tesla’s problems are not just on the stock market.
The automaker has recently started to offer temporary discounts and perks on its vehicles – leading to the belief that Tesla is potentially facing some rare demand problems.
However, Tesla is not alone in implementing layoffs. Several other companies, including Goldman Sachs and Cisco, have announced upcoming rounds of layoffs lately in anticipation for changing macroeconomics in early 2023.
Electrek’s Take
We are entering new territories right now. Until now, Tesla shareholders could still hold on to the thought that while the stock is doing poorly, Tesla’s financials and operations are still virtually unaffected.
Now it looks like there might be some worrying trends that Tesla is seeing internally leading to those moves.
On Twitter, Musk has been talking a lot lately about macroeconomic trends and laughed at claims that his Twitter antics are the reason for Tesla’s stock price dropping. Instead, he blames mostly the fed’s rate hike.
He has also warned of an impending recession. These kinds of comments from a CEO, while not necessarily untrue, are often used to justify a bad quarter. With Tesla having to issue discounts and perks to sell cars at the end of the quarter, the company could be currently seeing some bad trends that could last into 2023. Hence the layoffs.
At least, if previous Tesla rounds of layoffs and hiring freezes are any indications, the company generally quickly goes back to growing its headcounts.
It’s inevitable with Tesla’s many manufacturing projects.
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With the launch of the first-ever Class 8 vocational EV in the North American market, PACCAR Kenworth is raising the battery-electric bar and underscoring just how far the market has come since the Tesla Semi made its debut nearly a decade ago.
When Tesla pulled the wraps off its all electric Semi truck all the way back in November of 2017, the rest of the industry was hardly thinking about BEVs. Nearly a decade later, the world is still waiting for the Semi to begin regular production, and PACCAR is launching its second generation of HDEVs with the debut of this, the all-new Kenworth T880E vocational truck.
“The Kenworth T880E marks a groundbreaking milestone in Kenworth’s history as we bring to market the first Class 8 battery-electric solution built for vocational applications,” explains Kevin Haygood, Kenworth assistant general manager for sales and marketing. “The T880E is engineered to meet the evolving needs of operators and vocational fleets while still providing the durability, reliability and customization our customers expect.”
The new electric K-whopper is motivated by PACCAR’s in-house ePowertrain platform, capable of putting up to 605 hp and 1,850 lb-ft of peak torque to work, while delivering the same levels of drivability and dependability fleets expect from a Kenworth – but power and torque are only part of the T880E’s work-ready résumé.
Open to work
In addition to a stout, Class 8 electric chassis fitted with heavy-duty Kenworth brakes and axles, the T880E’s central drive eMotor allows for significant wheelbase flexibility so fleet buyers can spec out exactly the machine they need to get the job done. The T880E was also designed to enable lift axle installations from trusted Kenworth upfitters for a vocational-friendly BEV integration.
Additionally, the T880E features a wide selection of factory-installed options that include both high- and low-voltage ePTO (electric Power Take Off) ports, mechanical ePTOs, and the same wide array of body configurations as the ICE version.
Speaking of the ICE version, the electric T880E also can also be had in the same set-back front axle and set-forward front axle configurations with the same multi-piece hood construction. Inside the cab, the latest in driver-focused technology includes the Kenworth SmartWheel and a new 15″ DriverConnect digital touchscreen. Dash and vocational features like RAM Mounts and factory-installed PTO switches are available. The T880E is also offered with Kenworth ADAS packages for customers interested in DigitalVision Mirrors, Bendix Fusion, and Lane Keeping Assist.
It’s so big, you guys
The T880E was on static display at last week’s ACT Expo in Anaheim, California. Check with your local Kenworth dealer for availability.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Kenworth.
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The tire-blistering SU7 Ultra has been the Xiaomi brand’s flagship super sedan since its launch, but a controversial software setting has limited the car to “just” 900 hp in regular driving – resulting in an outcry from owners who ponied up for the big boy numbers. With its latest software update, that missing 648 hp is back on tap!
The SU7 Ultra made waves throughout the performance car world when a bright yellow striped example lined up alongside a white quarter mile king, the 1,000+ hp Tesla Model S Plaid, and promptly smoked it.
That wasn’t all. A preproduction SU7 Ultra prototype lapped the legendary Nürburgring circuit in just 6 minutes and 46.874 seconds, firmly stamping the 1,500+ hp Xiaomi’s alphanumeric into the track’s record books with a time nearly fifteen seconds quicker than a Rimac Nevera or, on the ICE front, either a Corvette ZR1, Viper ACR, or Porsche 918 (take your pick).
It’s hardly any wonder, then, that the customers who signed up – in droves, too – were disappointed to learn that the SU7 they were allowed to buy had been neutered by the safety nannies to the tune of nearly 650 hp. (!)
We’re so back
The outrage from SU7 Ultra owners was immediate. And, facing mounting pressure online and on social media, Xiaomi ultimately decided to withdraw the performance-limiting features while acknowledging the need for more transparent communication about future software updates they messed up, saying in a statement, “we appreciate the passionate feedback from our community and will ensure better transparency moving forward.”
So, rich people can rocket themselves down the road in 9 second hypercars again and all is right with the world. A happy ending – but one that sort of illuminates a fresh set challenges for automakers peddling “software-defined vehicles” to a market that still thinks of their cars as very much hardware defined products.
That’s evidenced by the resistance to pay for features by subscription and complaints by more informed customers that “software locked” range and convenience features just subsidize the cost of more expensive trim levels and pad profits for manufacturers and suppliers.
The new reality is playing out in real time now, and the Jeff Bezos-backed $20,000 electric compact pickup from Slate Auto is going the other way entirely – time will tell whether more, or less tech is the answer.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Xiaomi, via CarNewsChina.
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Tesla (TSLA) has started offering reduced interest rates on the new Model Y in the US — this equates to a direct discount on the brand new vehicle that was supposed to spark Tesla’s demand back.
The automaker has announced “1.99% APR or $0 Due at Signing available for well-qualified buyers” on the new Model Y in the US for the first time:
This amounts to a direct discount worth a few thousand dollars. It is the first widely available discount on the new Model Y coming just weeks after the cheaper non-Launch Edition launched in the US.
It follows a $2,000 direct discount that Tesla offered to early Model Y owners last week.
These discounts and subsidized financing point to soft demand for the updated best-selling vehicle in the US. Tesla just delivered a disastrous first quarter, which it mostly blamed on the Model Y changeover, resulting in lower inventory.
However, industry watchers, including Electrek, noted many signs that the Model Y changeover was not the only issue. Tesla added significantly to its inventory in the first quarter, and the wait times for the new Model Y were extremely short.
Now, the discount weeks after launching the new Model Y confirm the soft demand in the US.
It’s not as bad as Europe and China, where Tesla has already been offering 0% financing on the new Model Y for weeks.
Electrek’s Take
I think it’s clear by now: the new Model Y is not coming to save Tesla.
Let’s be honest: It will still be a significant vehicle program by volume. It just won’t help Tesla return to growth this year.
The RWD Model Y is still coming and has a chance to help in the US. It is already available in China, and it’s not helping Tesla much there, but that’s in a hyper-competitive market, especially at lower prices where the RWD Model Y operates.
Tesla’s performance in Q2 in China will be interesting since it is basically back to its regular lineup for the whole quarter.
The US appears to have been Tesla’s least affected market, but Q3 will be the real test with the full lineup and no backlog of demand for new Model Y.
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