That wasn’t a standard retooling. That was completely gutting a factory that did not have flexible lines - they stripped absolutely everything out of the factory and rebuilt it with flexible lines. They can build virtually anything on small platforms with minimal additional cost at this point.

I think they’re going to be sorely disappointed. The expectations are all set around non-GAAP numbers and are counting on a pretty massive swing in profits while their margins have been declining.

Right - and that is a big difference between reality and a closed shop. The reason for fair share dues is that by federal law, the union has to represent you fully whether you are a member or not. So nonmembers getting fired or disciplined in violation of the contract? The union has to represent them just as much and…

The point of flexible factories is that retooling isn’t that expensive. Realistically, if we hit a recession, small car sales will get hit just as bad as CUVs and SUVs. What will be different is if fuel prices change - and then the trick is you don’t have to spend a fortune to ramp up production of small vehicles,…

Yeah, but don’t expect that to hit the news. They announced a $900 million investment in the plant near me. The local news didn’t catch on to that story at all. I had to send the tip to their reporter before they caught on days later.

You do realize these plants are flexible, right?

Since you obviously missed it, they negotiated with Ford that they will replace the production in the US with other vehicles. So no jobs lost (after a LOT of job gains recently in the US - FAR more than we’re talking about in Mexico here)

Sure, everything is going down. But not by 50%. Tesla desperately needs good results in their earnings announcement tomorrow to stop the slide.

1st: except that the move doesn’t necessarily save the company any money.

Say you have two vehicles that take 20 man hours of work for assembly. Excluding labor, you make $5000 per vehicle in profit on vehicle A and $500 on vehicle B. Labor costs you $50 per hour in the US or $10 in Mexico. If you build vehicle B in…

What is true is that the number of man hours needed to assemble a vehicle have plummeted.

In the late 70s and early 80s, an average vehicle took close to 120 man hours of labor for assembly (close to 200 for stamping, engine, transmission, and final assembly). Today, those numbers are more like 20 for assembly and 30…

Such a lovely rant against unions, especially since closed shops have been illegal for decades.

If its the same click I have in my ‘06, there is an updated design that does solve the problem. Just kinda pricey for something that I drown out with the stereo anyway.

Nope - the Tempo was built in either Kansas City or Oakville.

Federal reserve bank of St. Louis.

While it is true that consumer credit outstanding is at all time record highs, the increase in auto loans is actually less than 1/4th of the rise over the past decade. The household savings rate has also increased at the same time, though - we’re actually back to about mid 90s rates of saving.

You certainly enjoy living in ignorance, don’t you? Because when you shift the expenses other makers count in their OPEX, the vaunted “highest gross profit margin” status completely disappears.

Who said cash flow is the same as profit?

Seriously, are you this dense? Their cash flow from operating activities was -$203M last quarter. Their operating income was $184M. If they have no loss in gross margin, that means they need 203/184 = 110% increase in sales just for operating cash flow to go to 0. For net cash…

Again - want to take a bet on that cashflow? They would need to more than double sales with ZERO loss in their version of gross margin and ZERO capital investment to fix their cash flow problems.

Talk about rose colored glasses.

And do you really think the stock price remains where it is if they go out and issue yet…

Right - so rather than actually debate the 100% true fact that other automakers include R&D costs in COGS and Tesla is quite literally the only one who doesn’t, which means that Tesla’s gross margins are grossly inflated relative to every other automaker, simply engage in an ad hominem attack.

The stock absolutely has relevance on the company itself in this case. Why?

Tesla is bleeding tons of cash. Unless they fix that ASAP (and who in their right mind really believes their talk of being cashflow positive this year?), they’re going to need more cash. They’ll end up having to turn to the market for another…