FBI Now Probing Lofty Tesla Production Promises

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Given that Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s Twitter account now has third-party oversight, it’s unlikely we’ll see angry missives about the Fun-Busting Interrogators this weekend. However, that won’t stop the FBI from probing Musk’s past production promises for the Model 3 sedan.

As part of an ongoing Department of Justice investigation that kicked off after Musk’s fateful August 7th “funding secured” tweet, the FBI wants to know if the automaker misled investors via production promises that didn’t pan out.

News of the expanded probe comes by way of a Wall Street Journal report, citing unnamed sources. Tesla initially said it planned to reach a 5,000-vehicles-per-week production target for its Model 3 sedan by the end of 2017. That didn’t happen, nor did the pushed-back target date of end-of-March, 2018. It was only in the week leading up to the end of June that the company pushed out enough vehicles to say it had reached its goal — though the average weekly rate, to this day, remains below that marker.

“We have not received a subpoena, a request for testimony, or any other formal process, and there have been no additional document requests about this from the Department of Justice for months,” a Tesla spokesperson told the publication.

However, the WSJ reported that several Tesla employees have received subpoenas, as well as requests for information. The automaker has already submitted info to the DOJ related to Musk’s public pronouncements regarding production figures.

After landing in hot water with the feds over Musk’s failed go-private gambit (and the hasty tweet that preceded it), Tesla and its CEO were forced to settle with the Securities and Exchange Commission after the regulator slapped the company with a fraud lawsuit. Tesla and Musk were ordered to pay $20 million each, with Musk booted from the chairman’s seat for a period of three years.

At the time, Musk blamed the slow ramp-up of Model 3 production on a variety of factors, mainly supply issues. However, in order to achieve one-off weekly rates of 5,000 vehicles, the company’s Fremont, California assembly plant had to construct a new production line inside an outdoor, tent-like structure. The tent’s existence was only revealed in June.

[Image: Elon Musk/ Twitter]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • SCE to AUX SCE to AUX on Oct 28, 2018

    Will the Feds investigate Buick for over promising sales of the Cascada? Isn't it better to have insatiable demand and meet it late, than no demand with unsold cars sitting around for two model years?

  • TimK TimK on Oct 28, 2018

    The investigation will not result in any criminal indictments. It will however supply enough ammunition so the board can fire Elon and sell/merge the company before it implodes.

  • THX1136 Always liked the Mustang though I've never owned one. I remember my 13 yo self grabbing some Ford literature that Oct which included the brochure for the Mustang. Using my youthful imagination I traced the 'centerfold' photo of the car AND extending the roof line back to turn it into a small wagon version. At the time I thought it would be a cool variant to offer. What was I thinking?!
  • GregLocock That's a bodge, not a solution. Your diff now has bits of broken off metal floating around in it.
  • The Oracle Well, we’re 3-4 years in with the Telluride and right around the time the long term durability issues start to really take hold. This is sad.
  • CoastieLenn No idea why, but nothing about a 4Runner excites me post-2004. To me, they're peak "try-hard", even above the Wrangler and Gladiator.
  • AZFelix A well earned anniversary.Can they also attend to the Mach-E?
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