Billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk's electric car company Tesla missed its Model 3 production target, but Musk wants everyone to know he's grinding away.
Tesla produced 2,020 Model 3s in the past seven days, according to a statement from the company released Tuesday, which was less than the 2,500 cars per week the electric vehicle maker was aiming for. The company has been plagued with production delays, but says it still hopes to meet its goal of producing 5,000 Model 3 cars per week in three months time.
For Musk, that means it's crunch time.
"I'm back to sleeping at factory. Car biz is hell," Musk tweeted Tuesday.
The post was in response to a report from The Information about his move to take over direct oversight of production of the Model 3 from Doug Field, the company's senior vice president of engineering.
"My job as CEO is to focus on what's most critical, which is currently Model 3 production," tweeted Musk.
The reporter at The Information responded to Musk asking for an interview, to which the Tesla boss replied he had other priorities.
Uhh, hello, I need to build cars
It's not the first time the entrepreneur has publicly commented on the long hours he is putting in to get production numbers up.
In November, Musk hosted the company's quarterly investor call from the Gigafactory, Tesla's battery production facility in Nevada, because that is where he has been working day and night to correct production delays, he said.
"I always move my desk to wherever — well, I don't really have a desk, actually. I move myself to wherever the biggest problem is in Tesla," said Musk in November. "I really believe that one should lead from the front lines and that's why I'm here."
Musk said he had been at the factory at all hours of the night.
"I am personally on that line, in that machine, trying to solve problems personally where I can," Musk said in November. "We are working seven days a week to do it. And I have personally been here on zone 2 module line at 2:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning, helping diagnose robot calibration issues. So I'm doing everything I can."
He camped on the roof of the Gigafactory, he said once in late October, because it took less time than going to a hotel.
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