According to media reports, Tesla plans to halt production of the Cybertruck and Model Y at its Gigafactory in Austin, Texas, for one week beginning in early July. This will mark at least the third such production pause at the facility within the past year.
Sources familiar with the matter revealed that Tesla informed employees earlier this month during a meeting that the production stoppage will begin the week of June 30, with operations resuming the following week. During the downtime, workers will have the option to take paid time off or participate in voluntary training and facility cleaning activities.
The company explained to employees that the temporary shutdown is for production line maintenance, claiming the upgrades will help improve output capacity-though no specific details were given regarding which lines will see increased productivity.
Tesla declined to comment on the reported production halt.
Over the past 12 months, Tesla has paused operations at its Austin Gigafactory at least twice. In late May, the company extended a planned long weekend shutdown into a full-week production halt. During that stoppage, Tesla offered optional training sessions focused on enhancing workplace culture. These moves come amid weakening demand and a growing inventory backlog. Previous reports have noted that Tesla has rented unused parking lots across the U.S. to store excess vehicles.
In December last year, the Cybertruck line was idled for three days due to battery supply issues. In April this year, Tesla reduced production of the Cybertruck and reassigned some workers from the production line.
Due to Cybertruck sales currently sitting at only half the volume compared to the same time last year, Tesla has been scaling back production of the electric pickup throughout 2024. Despite the launch of a lower-priced version, eligibility for federal tax credits, and greater purchase incentives, Cybertruck's market performance remains underwhelming.
While extended shutdowns during holidays or slow summer sales periods are not uncommon in the auto industry-often for routine maintenance, production upgrades, or to address inventory and supply shortages-such pauses have historically been rare at Tesla. For instance, Ford paused F-150 Lightning production for seven weeks in fall 2024, and both Ford and GM implemented factory halts during the 2021 chip shortage.
Tesla is expected to release its second-quarter delivery figures in July. In Q1, deliveries dropped 13% year-over-year. As of March 20, Tesla's voluntary recall notice indicated that fewer than 50,000 Cybertrucks had been delivered in total.
