Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) will temporarily halt Model 3 production at its California factory to work on its assembly lines, as per a Reuters report.
The electric car company will shut down production for six days from May 26 to May 31 to address the manufacturing issues that have prevented Tesla from reaching its Model 3 production goals, according to Reuters' sources.
Model 3 production has been suspended before as the company struggled to meet its target, blaming excessive automation for the slow down.
In its first quarter, Tesla was producing 2,000 Model 3s per week, missing its target of 2,500 per week. The company expects to meet a target of 5,000 vehicles per week by the end of the second quarter.
Morgan Stanley analysts referred to Tesla as the “ultimate high-risk name in autos,” forecasting that Model 3 production won’t be able to reach 5,000 cars per week until either the third or fourth quarter, in a note shared by TheFly.com.
READ: Tesla the 'ultimate high-risk name in autos' says Morgan Stanley analyst, pointing to Model 3 production
CEO Elon Musk told employees that this week the company could likely reach 3,500 Model 3s per week, as per a staff email cited by the Electrek in a report.
Tesla has been in the spotlight fairly often lately, from a bizarre earnings call to reports of crashes.
READ: Tesla slides amid analyst scorn after 'truly bizarre' conference call with CEO Elon Musk
A Tesla Model S was involved in a crash in Utah while the driver was using the car’s Autopilot feature, which is already under review by the National Transportation Safety Board after a fatal crash.
Musk took to Twitter to comment on the “messed up” coverage of the crash, saying that the driver only suffered a broken ankle.
What’s actually amazing about this accident is that a Model S hit a fire truck at 60mph and the driver only broke an ankle. An impact at that speed usually results in severe injury or death.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 14, 2018
Shares of the California-based company were down more than 3% to US$282.97.