The Tesla factory in Grünheide. dpa
Tesla is halting production at the Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg for two weeks due to delivery bottlenecks caused by attacks by Houthi militias in the Red Sea.
Production is scheduled to be paused between January 29th and February 11th and will resume fully from February 12th.
The situation in the Red Sea could have a general impact on the global economy, as important oil shipments also take place there and large shipping companies are currently avoiding the Suez Canal.
The electric car manufacturer Tesla has to temporarily stop production at its Gigafactory in Grünheide near Berlin for around two weeks. The reason for this is attacks by the Yemeni Houthi militias on ships in the Red Sea, which have led to delivery bottlenecks. Tesla announced that it would pause most of its production between January 29th and February 11th.
The company explained: “Due to missing components, we are therefore forced to suspend vehicle production in the Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg with the exception of a few sub-areas in the period between January 29th and February 11th.” Production is scheduled to begin from January 12th. will be fully resumed in February.
27 attacks on international ships
The Houthis in Yemen have been increasingly attacking ships in the Red Sea since the Gaza war broke out between Israel and the Islamist Hamas. This has led to a shift in transport routes, with major shipping companies now increasingly avoiding the important route through the Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. Hundreds of ships take a detour around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, but this is a much longer route.
Read too
Shares in Tesla and Hertz are plummeting because the car rental company wants to sell a good 20,000 electric cars and purchase combustion engines
The situation in the Red Sea could generally affect the global economy, as important oil shipments also take place there. The US and Britain have attacked Houthi positions in Yemen in response to the attacks.
Tesla emphasizes that these developments also have a direct impact on their production in Grünheide. The company, which has been producing electric cars there since March 2022 and employs around 11,500 people, plans to increase its annual production capacity from the current 250,000 to one million vehicles. Battery cell production capacity is set to increase from 50 to 100 gigawatt hours per year, although environmentalists have raised concerns about the expansion.
With material from dpa / tlf