Musk calls Tesla's new factories 'gigantic money furnaces'

Tesla's two newest car factories have been losing billions of dollars as supply-chain disruptions and battery-cell manufacturing challenges limit the company's ability to increase production, Elon Musk said in a recent interview.
"Overwhelmingly our concern is, how do we keep the factories operating so we can pay people and not go bankrupt?" Mr. Musk said in the interview. He added that he expected Tesla to resolve these problems quickly.
In the weeks since the interview was recorded, Tesla has begun layoffs that Mr. Musk indicated could touch 10% of the company's salaried workforce.
Tesla has faced several setbacks in recent months, including higher supplier and logistics costs amid soaring inflation. Governmental Covid-19 restrictions in China also curtailed output at the company's plant in Shanghai, which had been its largest by volume.
Tesla has long relied on finger-sized battery cells made by companies such as Panasonic Corp., but it has been working to develop its own, larger cells in-house. That effort is aimed at reducing the cost of a key component and mitigating the risk of battery shortages.
"Berlin and Austin are losing billions of dollars right now because there's a ton of expense and hardly any output," Mr. Musk said. $Tesla(TSLA.US)$