Tesla expects to start limited production of the Model Y crossover at its new plant near Berlin before the end of this year despite construction delays, CEO Elon Musk told investors.
The factory, Tesla's first in Europe, has run into bureaucratic roadblocks that forced the automaker to delay the production start from its original date of July.
On an earnings call on Monday, Musk said that Tesla "expects to be producing the new design of the Model Y in both [Germany and Texas] in limited production later this year."
Besides the plant in Gruenheide near Berlin, Tesla is also building a new factory in East Austin, Texas.
Musk spoke of the "agony of a manufacturing ramp" as the company works to expand its production network, which currently comprises plants in Fremont, California and Shanghai, China.
Tesla has hit a series of environmental and planning hold-ups at the German plant.
Most recently, two environmental groups asked a court to force Tesla to relocate a population of endangered sand lizards that live on the site as well as some adders that prey on the lizards and are considered a threatened species.