Tesla’s $25,000 Car Means Tossing Out the 100-Year-Old Assembly Line
27th July 2025
Bloomberg, a Voice of the Crust.
Tesla Inc. has a plan to fend off cheaper competition from China with a $25,000 electric car. But first it has to overhaul a 100-year-old manufacturing process pioneered by Henry Ford.
The company is moving to what it calls an “unboxed” approach, which is more like building Legos than a traditional production line. Instead of a large, rectangular car moving along a linear conveyer belt, parts are assembled simultaneously in dedicated areas and then all put together at the end. Tesla says the change could reduce manufacturing footprints by more than 40%, allowing the carmaker to build future plants far faster and at less expense.
Changing a linear tree and branch model for a decentralized bush and swarm model. It might even work.
Of course, anybody who actually thinks that Tesla will ever put out a car that can be bought for $25,000 (Foolish Mortal) is smoking and not sharing.