Tesla will suspend car production to comply with coronavirus lockdown

Tesla workers coming off the night shift workers wait to board busses at the Fremont factory. Tesla workers coming off the night shift workers wait to board busses at the Fremont factory. Photo: Russ Mitchell/TNS Photo: Russ Mitchell/TNS Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Tesla will suspend car production to comply with coronavirus lockdown 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Tesla will temporarily end production at its Fremont, Calif., assembly plant beginning March 23 to comply with San Francisco Bay Area restrictions amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The company made the announcement Thursday after days of controversy as Chief Executive Elon Musk kept the plant running full-tilt despite shelter-in-place lockdown orders from Alameda County, where Fremont is located.

"We have decided to temporarily suspend production at our factory in Fremont from the end of day March 23, which will allow an orderly shutdown," the company said in a statement posted on its investor website.

The lockdown orders, issued jointly by six Bay Area counties, are in effect until April 7, although public health officials have said that date could change.

The plant has about 10,000 workers. The company didn't address how or whether employees would be paid during the shutdown.

Tesla's solar energy factory in Buffalo, N.Y., will be temporarily shut down as well, the company said.