March 2, 2026
By Nehal Malik
Tesla’s leadership in Germany is coming out swinging against local media, accusing a major outlet of running a calculated campaign of “false information” to stir up trouble at the company’s European manufacturing hub.
André Thierig, the Senior Director of Manufacturing at Gigafactory Berlin, took to LinkedIn recently to “set the record straight” regarding a report from the German publication Handelsblatt. The report claimed the factory only produced 149,000 Model Ys in 2025, a figure Thierig calls flat-out wrong. According to Thierig, Giga Berlin actually produced over 200,000 vehicles in 2025 despite a temporary production halt early in the year to reconfigure manufacturing lines for the new Model Y.
Setting the Production Record Straight
Thierig didn’t stop at just correcting the numbers. He slammed the publication for suggesting the factory is in crisis, noting that production actually increased every quarter compared to the previous one in 2025. He also revealed that Tesla is planning a further increase for the first quarter of 2026.
“The Handelsblatt degenerates into the mouthpiece of IG Metall,” Thierig wrote, suggesting the media outlet is working in tandem with the German metalworkers’ union to “create fear and uncertainty among the workforce and thus influence voter behavior”. He even poked fun at the publication’s claim that Tesla had a profit margin of just 0.74%, attributing the figure to their “secret ‘arithmetic skills'”.
The Backstory: Tesla vs. IG Metall
This war of words is part of a much larger battle for the soul of Giga Berlin. On one side is Tesla’s fast-moving, non-unionized American tech culture; on the other is the deeply entrenched German tradition of labor unions.
IG Metall currently represents the largest coalition on the Giga Berlin works council, but they don’t have an outright majority. With elections for a new council slated for early March, the tension is at an all-time high. Elon Musk recently weighed in, telling employees he would approve massive expansions for Giga Berlin and even bring Semi, Optimus, and Cybercab production to the factory — but only if they vote to keep external organizations like IG Metall from steering the company in the “wrong direction”.
Tesla is also currently embroiled in a labor dispute in Sweden with IF Metall (a completely separate labor union and not to be confused with Germany’s IG Metall) showing that the company’s anti-union stance is a core part of its European strategy.
Why the Sentiment?
Thierig believes the negative reporting serves two goals: supporting the union’s agenda and driving clicks. “Scandals in connection with Tesla click great,” he noted, calling the coverage “campaign journalism” designed to generate income from sensationalism.
As the Giga Berlin workforce prepares to head to the polls next week, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Tesla is offering the chance to build the future of robotics and autonomy in Germany, provided employees choose to stick with the “Tesla way” over traditional union representation. Whether this public call-out helps sway the vote remains to be seen.
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March 2, 2026
By Karan Singh
With critical works council elections looming in early March, Elon Musk delivered a pre-recorded address to employees at Giga Berlin that was equal parts glowing praise for their work and a stark warning for the future.
In a video discussion recorded in Austin alongside Giga Berlin plant manager André Thierig, Elon painted a picture of a massive, multi-product future for Tesla’s only Giga Factory in Europe. However, that future comes with a massive caveat: the factory must remain free of “external influences.”
Let’s take a look at the incredible product roadmap that Elon laid out for Giga Berlin, and the ongoing union battle that could jeopardize it all.
What’s next for Giga Berlin? Glad you asked pic.twitter.com/aaiBOOBxuu
— Tesla Manufacturing (@gigafactories) February 26, 2026 The Carrot: A Massive European Expansion
During the internal meeting, Elon was highly complimentary of the Grünheide factory, calling it one of the coolest factories in the world. He also praised its cleanliness, positive vibe, and its wholly Tesla aesthetic. From there, he outlined an ambitious production pipeline that would guarantee Giga Berlin had its share of work in Tesla’s future.
Battery Cell Production
In an update that many didn’t expect, Elon Musk revealed that Tesla will start producing battery cells at Giga Berlin. This is a massive shift for the European markets, as previous reports suggested that the localized, vertically integrated cell production at Giga Berlin was being sidelined in favor of imported cells.
Bringing battery manufacturing in-house in Germany will drastically reduce supply chain logistics and geopolitical vulnerability, and also cement Giga Berlin’s long-term manufacturing independence.
Model Y and FSD
Elon also confirmed that production of the Model Y will continue to scale up at Giga Berlin. Interestingly, he tied this production ramp directly to the rollout of FSD in Europe.
He also mentioned that he was told FSD will “hopefully” receive regulatory approval in the Netherlands on March 20th. The Dutch RDW is expected to issue an initial ruling soon, which is surprisingly positive news.
If this timeline holds true, unlocking FSD Supervised across Europe could trigger a massive wave of new demand for the locally built Model Y.
Cybercab, Semi, and Optimus
Looking toward the long-term horizon, Elon explicitly stated that if things go well, Tesla will expand manufacturing of both Cybercab and Optimus to Europe. Bringing the production of the autonomous Robotaxi and the humanoid robot that will both power Tesla’s future would instantly make Giga Berlin one of the most advanced manufacturing facilities on the planet.
He also floated the possibility of Tesla Semi production coming to Europe soon, along with the Semi itself arriving in the European market sometime next year.
When plant manager Thierig noted that the Grünheide site has plenty of space to accommodate these new lines, Elon responded with a massive promise:
“Assuming the authorities are supportive and the people are supportive. Then we would probably expand to make it the largest factory complex in Europe”.
The Stick: The IG Metall Warning
Despite the exciting product roadmap, Elon made it explicitly clear that none of this expansion is guaranteed.
He warned that Tesla’s operations would become significantly more difficult when external organizations attempt to steer Tesla in the wrong direction. While he did not mention them by name, this was a thinly veiled shot at the German metalworkers’ union, IG Metall.
“We won’t close the factory, but realistically, we won’t expand it either,” Elon said at the gathering.
IG Metall & Sweden
It is worth making a quick distinction here: while they share similar names and pro-labor goals, the union pushing against Tesla in Germany is IG Metall, which is entirely distinct from the Swedish union IF Metall. However, the ongoing situation in Sweden serves as a cautionary tale. IF Metall has been locked in a bitter, multi-year strike against Tesla’s service centers since late 2023, attempting to force the automaker into a collective bargaining agreement.
The Swedish dispute has resulted in prolonged blockades, sympathy strikes from port workers, and severe operational headaches for Tesla’s regional supply chain. By drawing a hard line in the sand now, Elon is actively trying to prevent that exact type of entrenched, multi-union disruption from taking root inside his most critical European manufacturing hub.
Culture Clash
Elon’s comments highlight the ongoing culture war that is currently raging inside Giga Berlin. On one side is Tesla’s fast-moving, non-unionized American tech culture; on the other is the deeply entrenched German tradition of labor unions and strict co-determination.
IG Metall currently represents the largest faction on the Giga Berlin works council, though they do not hold an outright majority. With the workforce heading to the polls next week to elect a new council, Elon is playing his strongest hand: offering the workforce the chance to build the future of autonomy and robotics, provided they vote to keep the union’s influence at bay.
March 1, 2026
By Karan Singh
Tesla’s highly popular FSD (Supervised) transfer program has suddenly hit a major snag. In a quiet update to the FSD transfer program page on its website, Tesla has changed the eligibility language for the current FSD transfer window again, sparking a wave of confusion for current owners hoping to transfer FSD one last time.
While the changes are currently live on Tesla’s support pages, the granular details regarding how existing orders will be handled are being pieced together by reliable community insiders. However, it is extremely important to note that while this breakdown appears accurate based on customer communications, Tesla has not publicly stated what will happen to orders placed before the wording change at this time. In addition, Tesla Sales has not yet begun reaching out to customers proactively, but we expect this to change in the short term.
Goalpost Shift
The core of the community’s frustration stems from a single shift in terminology.
On January 20th, 2026, Tesla changed the FSD Transfer program terms from requiring a delivery by 31 March to requiring an order placed by 31 March. This gave lots of customers flexibility and time, and opened up the window to get into the final few custom builds ahead of the Model S and Model X ending production.
Now that language has been changed back to its original form, customers must actually take physical delivery of their vehicle by March 31st to be eligible for FSD transfer.
The Nuances and Refund
According to Sawyer Merritt’s breakdown of the new policy, Tesla is drawing a hard line in the sand based on your initial delivery window. If you placed an order before this policy change and your delivery window was scheduled on or before March 31, 2026, Tesla will still honor the FSD transfer.
However, if you placed your order and the initial estimated delivery window was already stretching past March 31st, Tesla will not honor the FSD transfer.
For customers who ended up losing out on the transfer because their order window fell too late, or because they simply cannot take delivery by the end of March, Tesla is offering two immediate remedies.
You can either pivot and apply your transfer to an inventory vehicle, or you can cancel your order and receive a full refund of the $250 order deposit.
The Cybertruck Casualty
While being offered a transfer to an inventory vehicle or a $250 refund is a nice gesture, it completely ignores the biggest casualty (and likely cause) of this policy shift: buyers of the new Cybertruck AWD trim.
Many Tesla owners, especially those on HW3, jumped at the chance to order the newly available Cybertruck Dual-Motor AWD variant, fully expecting to transfer their existing FSD software over to a new vehicle under the rules publicly listed on Tesla’s website. The trim was well priced at an introductory $59,990 USD, which just jumped up to $69,990 today.
Because deliveries for this specific trim aren’t expected to begin until this Summer, every single one of those buyers is now locked out of FSD transfer. Further, because there just aren’t any Dual-Motor AWD (non-Premium) Cybertrucks sitting in available inventory to transfer to instead, these buyers are simply out of luck.
Unless Tesla issues a specific exemption for this trim, or rolls out another FSD transfer program in the future, many of these early order holders will have to decide if upgrading their hardware is worth leaving their $8,000+ software package behind.