Tesla Inc. said on Wednesday it will shut down production at its California assembly plant for a week this month to prepare for production of its high-volume Model 3 sedan, moving the company closer to meeting its target to start production in July.
Tesla said the “brief, planned” pause would allow the company to add capacity to the existing paint shop to prepare it for the Model 3, and other general maintenance.
“This will allow Tesla to begin Model 3 production later this year as planned and enable us to start the ramp towards 500,000 vehicles annually in 2018,” said a Tesla spokesman.
