It’s gone from one piece to three. Tesla’s ambitious plans to manufacture the underbody of its vehicles into a single piece, a process known as gigacasting, has been put on hold, according to Reuters, citing two sources with knowledge of the move. It was another sign that the company was pulling back from some of its previously reported plans as it struggles to adapt to falling sales and shrinking profits. Typically, automakers piece together the underbody from hundreds of individual parts.
The news is the latest dip in the rollercoaster that Tesla has been on since the start of the year when the company’s CEO Elon Musk warned of slower sales amid increasing competition in the US and China, its two main markets. Since then, the company has laid off over 10 percent of its global workforce, lost several top executives, and reported earnings that came up short of even some Wall Street analysts’ most dire predictions.