Elon Musk Asks Tesla Staff To Rally Hard, Salvage 'Tough Quarter'

Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk told employees over the weekend that the electric vehicle company had a tough quarter and it's time to rally hard to recover, Electrek reported on Sunday, citing an internal email.

What Happened: “This has been a very tough quarter, primarily due to supply chain and production challenges in China, so we need to rally hard to recover!” he reportedly told Tesla staff. 

Musk blamed the supply chain and production challenges in China for the tough quarter.

He, however, said Shanghai, where Tesla made over 50% of its global cars last year, is springing back up after nearly two months of COVID-19-related lockdown curbs in China.

“Shanghai is returning to full strength and Austin is spooling up. Onward to victory!” Elon wrote in an email, as per the report.  

The billionaire entrepreneur also lauded Tesla's Fremont and Berlin factories for achieving new milestones.

“I’d like to congratulate the Fremont team for achieving a new record production day last week and Berlin for making almost 1000 cars last week! This is great stuff.”

See Also: Warren Buffett-Backed BYD Continues To Outperform EV Rivals In May

Why It Matters: Austin, Texas-based Tesla sold 32,165 China-made electric vehicles in May, as per Reuters, citing the China Passenger Car Association data — a 3.8% fall from a year earlier.

The EV maker sold only 1,152 vehicles in April due to city-wide lockdowns in Shanghai.

Giga Shanghai reopened on April 19 but has struggled to return to pre-lockdown level production.

Musk in April told investors Giga Shanghai could spring a production surprise in the current quarter and that it is "coming back with a vengeance."

Tesla recently opened Giga Berlin, its first factory in Europe and is expected to ramp up to full manufacturing capacity by the end of the year. 

Price Action: Tesla shares closed 3.12% lower at $696.69 on Friday, and are down 42% YTD, according to data from Benzinga Pro.