Elon Musk made the expansion of the gigafactory dependent on the influence of IG Metall. Nothing is decided. Meanwhile, employees can win up to 10,000 euros for attending.
André Thierig, factory manager of the German Tesla factory, wants to increase production in Grünheide. In 2025, occupancy was 54 percent.
Grünheide. The expansion of the Tesla gigafactory in Grünheide continues to depend on a decision in the USA. You are currently “standing at the starting block, like in the 100-meter run,” said plant manager André Thierig at a works meeting on Thursday. “If someone in the USA says go, then we can start running.”
Preparations are underway. A new country road and, in a few years, a motorway connection will be built north of the plant. Tesla would also need an additional power connection for the expansion. Thierig said they are already working on the permits. “But as of now, a decision to expand the factory has not yet been made.”
Before the works council election in March, CEO Elon Musk linked the expansion to the influence of IG Metall. In a video interview played to the workforce in February, he warned of “external organizations” that were “pushing Tesla in the wrong direction.” And further: “We will not close the factory, but realistically we will not expand it either.”
Thierig had already warned in a similar way at a works meeting in December: “I personally cannot imagine that Elon, our board, would decide to expand the factory if the majority vote went in favor of IG Metall.” IG Metall lost the election, and the list of works council chairwoman Michaela Schmitz became the strongest force. Six months later, a decision on the expansion is still pending.
Saturday shifts for ramp-up
Insiders report great expectations from the USA. You can literally see the pressure on the German managers that they are under. An employee: “As soon as we fall behind, there is pressure.”
Starting in October, production will gradually increase from 6,200 to 7,500 vehicles per week. According to Tesla, the factory was at 54 percent capacity in 2025 and more than 56 percent in 2024. At the works meeting, Thierig expressed confidence that this situation could improve. “We are absolutely on schedule,” said the plant manager and thanked the workforce for a “mega week”.
To achieve this, Tesla is having production on Saturdays again for the first time in at least two years. Each shift group has to work one additional time in September; the last special shift runs on Saturday night. Anyone who is in the red with their FlexZeit account will reduce the negative hours instead of receiving the 35 percent surcharge.
In the question and answer session, an employee wanted to know what was going on with the Saturday shifts. Many people found out about the first one just two weeks beforehand via email from the human resources department, and inquiries were passed back and forth between the human resources department and their superiors. “We have to do it every day, all the time,” he said. “But honestly, no one talked about it.”
Thierig replied that he doesn't yet know whether there will be further Saturdays in the fourth quarter. Demand is high, but there are risks with the ramp-up. “There is no forecast because we currently have no plan for additional work.”
Attendance rewards
The plant management also addresses absenteeism. More than 85 percent of participants in the “Tesla Reward” program will receive a bonus starting in November, and five participants can win up to 10,000 euros in a raffle. A works council member called the program at the meeting an “attendance program”.
Tesla in Grünheide has been concerned with this topic for years. In August 2024, sick leave reached 17 percent. At that time, Thierig and human resources manager Erik Demmler visited people on sick leave unannounced at home. In April 2026, Thierig put the sickness rate at less than five percent; At around the same time, Tesla stopped paying sick people's wages in several cases.
Thierig announced an early decision on salary. The annual review of fees is almost complete and Tesla will announce something “very soon”. “Everything is becoming more expensive.”
