Tesla Eyes 20% Production Surge In Europe On Strong EV Momentum

• Thierig said that the company will hire about 1000 new employees to enable the scale in production starting in May and convert several hundred temporary employees to permanent positions.
• According to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, 78,336 Tesla vehicles were registered in Europe in the first quarter. 
• TSLA shares closed down 4% on Thursday, on the heels of the company providing increased capex guidance of over $25 billion for fiscal 2026.

EV giant Tesla Inc (TSLA) is looking to scale production of its best-selling Model Y vehicle at its gigafactory in Berlin, Europe, according to executive André Thierig.

Thierig, Senior Director of Manufacturing at the gigafactory, said in a post on X that production increase will commence from the second half of the year. He also said that the company will hire about 1,000 new employees to enable the scale in production starting in May and convert several hundred temporary employees to permanent positions.

“This follows a record first quarter 2026 where we built more than 61,000 MY!,” the executive said.

Tesla Sales In Europe

According to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, 78,336 Tesla vehicles were registered in Europe, including the UK and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) region, in the first quarter. This marks a growth of about 45% year-over-year and is largely due to growing demand for battery electric vehicles in the region.

Giga Berlin primarily ships Model Y vehicles throughout Europe, including countries like Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the UK. It also manufactures vehicles to be shipped to India.

According to Tesla’s latest quarterly report released earlier this week, the factory in Berlin currently has an installed annual manufacturing capacity of over 375,000 Model Y vehicles, implying significant capacity to scale.

Increased Production Outlook

“We plan to keep growing volumes further, not just in Berlin, but across all our factories. Our biggest limiter continues to be our battery pack capacity, and we are actively working on resolving that,” Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja said on Wednesday during Tesla’s first quarter earnings call, while also acknowledging a “demand surge” in Europe.  

TSLA shares closed down 4% on Thursday, on the heels of the company providing disappointing future guidance, including a fiscal year 2026 capex estimate of over $25 billion, which concerned investors despite Q1 earnings beating Wall Street estimates.  

How Did Retail Traders React?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around TSLA stayed within the ‘extremely bullish’ territory over the past 24 hours, while message volume stayed at ‘high’ levels.

A Stocktwits user expressed optimism for the stock going much higher despite the slump after the Q1 report.

Another highlighted that the increased capex guidance of over $25 billion will be “painful but huge.”

TSLA stock gained about 49% over the past 12 months 

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