Tesla Hires Former Audi Exec to Oversee Production as Report Slams Imported Labor at Fremont Factory

In a bid to get the Model 3 out the door on time, ideally without the snafus that plagued the Model X, Tesla Motors has hired a longtime Audi executive to serve as vice-president of vehicle production.

The hiring of 22-year Audi veteran Peter Hochholdinger, first reported by Reuters, comes as Tesla ramps up its manufacturing capacity to handle the 400,000 reservations placed on its upcoming $35,000 sedan.

Amid the company’s all-out dash to bring its Fremont, California factory’s production capacity to 500,000 vehicles per year by 2018, a damning report just released by the Bay Area News Group sheds light on the low-cost foreign labor helping to build that capability.

The report details a group of Slovenian and Croatian laborers brought into the U.S. on business visas to help build the Fremont factory’s new paint shop last year.

The workers, one of whom sustained a serious injury in a fall at the Tesla paint shop, were among many eastern European men hired by overseas contractors to work in the U.S., despite having few qualifications. The group at the Tesla plant worked up to 10 hours a day, six days a week, and received compensation to the tune of $5 an hour.

Neither Tesla nor the contractor have accepted responsibility for the practice, which critics say violates labor and visa laws. Local trades groups aren’t happy about the jobs going to the imported workers.

Because the hiring and compensation occurred through a private contractor, the automaker absolved itself of blame for the working conditions, telling the media group, “Tesla expects all its contractors and their subs … to comply with all applicable pay laws.”

While the foreign labor issue is one that impacts many companies, not just Tesla, the automaker’s focus remains on bringing the Model 3 to market in big numbers by late 2017.

After the botched roll-out of the Model X SUV due to supplier issues, Tesla purged Greg Reichow, the company’s former vice-president of production, and Josh Ensign, vice-president of manufacturing, from its ranks.

Hochholdinger’s job is to boost production of existing models while creating a cost-conscious manufacturing program for the Model 3.

Putting all of the pieces together in a timely fashion is key. Founder and CEO Elon Musk already announced on Twitter that tardy buyers might have to wait until 2019 to see delivery of their Model 3.

[Image: Tesla Motors]