• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • SCB YouTube
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Supply Chains in Crisis
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • THINK TANK
  • WEBINARS
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Webinar Library
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » Elon Musk’s Lofty Goals for Tesla Made This Supplier Recoil at Risk

Elon Musk’s Lofty Goals for Tesla Made This Supplier Recoil at Risk

A little more than two years ago, Elon Musk and other Tesla Inc. executives met with a Mexican auto-parts supplier to discuss an opportunity some companies would kill for.

Tesla
September 10, 2018
Bloomberg

For some time, Tesla had been evaluating Nemak SAB and, in the first half of 2016, the carmaker talked with the company possibly becoming a direct supplier of aluminum housing components for its Model 3 electric sedans. But Tesla’s projections, its prices and the pressure Musk had put on himself and his company to produce as many as 500,000 vehicles by 2018 unnerved the northern Mexico-based unit of the conglomerate Alfa SAB.

“We’re a company that’s always looking to grow, but we’re fairly conservative,” Nemak Chief Executive Officer Armando Tamez said Aug. 23 from his office in the border state of Nuevo Leon. “We saw a high-risk project.”

In retrospect, Tamez was right to have suspected that Musk’s forecasts were overly ambitious. While the Model 3 has no doubt been a headline-grabbing sensation, with thousands lining up to reserve their car starting back in March 2016, Tesla has come up well short of production projections. Bloomberg’s best guess places total output at fewer than 85,000 vehicles since the first Model 3s were built in July 2017. The company confirmed in July of this year that it had asked a handful of suppliers to give back some cash.

A Tesla spokesman said Nemak bid repeatedly to supply certain parts for the Model 3. But after a competitive procurement process involving several other companies, the carmaker selected another supplier that was better aligned with its needs.

Read more

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED VIDEOS

Sourcing/Procurement/SRM Supply Chain Finance & Revenue Management Business Strategy Alignment Global Supply Chain Management Supply Chain Security & Risk Mgmt Automotive
KEYWORDS Automotive Business Strategy Alignment Global Supply Chain Management North America SC Finance & Revenue Management SC Security & Risk Mgmt Sourcing/Procurement/SCM
  • Related Articles

    Musk Sets Lofty Goal for $25,000 Model With Tesla-Made Batteries

    Elon Musk Drafts in Humans After Robots Slow Down Tesla Model 3 Production

    Tesla's Model 3 'Production Hell' Is Testing Elon Musk's Carmaking Model

Bloomberg

Volvo May Move Investments to U.S. If Europe’s Green-Tech Push Falls Short

More from this author

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter!

Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Popular Stories

  • A HAND TURNS A LARGE, LIGHTED DIAL WITH THE WORD RISK ON IT iStock-NicoElNino-1364371014.jpg

    Measuring KPIs and KRIs for Comprehensive Supplier Performance Management

    Technology
  • A COMPLEX SERIES OF ROADWAYS AND RAMPS, SEEN FROM HIGH ABOVE, IS PARTLY SHROUDED BY CLOUD

    Supply Chain Visibility Isn’t Just a Catchphrase; It’s an Imperative

    Logistics
  • A WOMAN IN HER LIVING ROOM GESTURES IN DISMAY ON THE PHONE OVER AN OPEN SHIPPING BOX

    Retailers – Quit Bellyaching and Differentiate Yourself on Returns

    Reverse Logistics
  • A CONTAINER SHIP PLIES A SILVERY OCEAN

    CVC Nears Deal to Acquire Logistics Firm Scan Global

    Logistics
  • AN INDUSTRIAL CLAW GRABS SCRAP STEEL FROM A GIANT OUTDOOR PILE OF JUNKpg

    How Manufacturing Companies are Using Recycled Materials In Their Processes and What They're Using

    Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility

Digital Edition

Scb q1 2023 cover

2023 Supply Chain Management Resource Guide: Packing for a Difficult Year

VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

Case Studies

  • New Revenue for Cloud-Based TMS that Embeds Orderful’s Modern EDI Platform

  • Convenience Store Client Maximizes Profit and Improves Customer Service

  • A Digitally Native Footwear Brand Finds Rapid Fulfillment

  • Expanding Apparel Brand Scales Seamlessly with E-Commerce Technology

  • How a Global LSP Scaled its Security Program and Won More Business

Visit Our Sponsors

Orderful Yang Ming Alithya
Barcoding Blue Yonder BNSF Logistics
CoEnterprise Data Capture Deposco
E2open GAINSystems Generix
Geodis GEP GreyOrange
Here Honeywell Intelligrated IFM
Infor Inmar Keelvar
Kinaxis Korber Lean Solutions Group 2H
Liberty SBF Locus Robotics Logility
LogistiVIEW Lucas Systems MCA Connect
MPO Nvidia Old Dominion
OpenText ORTEC Overhaul
Parsyl PMMI QIMA
Redwood Logistics Ryder E-commerce by Whiplash Saddle Creek Logistics
Schneider Dedicated Setlog Holding AG Ship4WD
Shipwell Tecsys TGW Systems
Thomson Reuters Tive Trailer Bridge
Vecna Robotics Verity
Verusen
  • More From SCB
    • Featured Content
    • Video Library
    • Think Tank Blog
    • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
    • Whitepapers
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
  • Digital Offerings
    • Digital Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Your Subscription
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Events Calendar
    • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
    • Supplier Directory
    • Case Study Showcase
    • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
    • 100 Great Partners Form
  • SCB Corporate
    • Advertise on SCB.COM
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • Data Sharing Opt-Out

All content copyright ©2023 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing