Embrace human labour, be flexible: BMW's tip to Musk for high volume e-car

Tesla, whose Model 3 is set to compete with BMW's 3-Series and upcoming i4 electric sedan, has repeatedly pushed back production targets and temporarily halted assembly lines to rework them

As Tesla Inc. struggles with producing its first high-volume car, BMW AG has some advice for its electric-vehicle rival: embrace human labor, be flexible and focus on the details.

“Producing cars in cycles of 60 seconds: That is the deciding factor,” Oliver Zipse, who oversees BMW’s production network that makes Tesla’s entire 2017 output once every two weeks, said in an interview. “To fully automate the assembly process is not our goal, because the human being with its unique properties is unbeatably flexible.”

Tesla, whose Model 3 is set to compete with BMW’s 3-Series and upcoming i4 electric sedan, has