LOS ANGELES (Bloomberg) -- Tesla Motors Inc. said it doesn't expect production delays of its Model S sedan after three workers were injured at its only assembly plant.
The employees were injured Wednesday by hot metal resulting from "a failure in a low pressure aluminum casting press," at the Fremont, Calif., factory, Tesla said previously. They suffered moderate to serious burns, Fremont Fire Department Captain Daniel Cardenas said in an e-mail. There was no fire or explosion at the factory, he said.
"Obviously, our primary concern is the health and safety of our employees," Jeff Evanson, a company spokesman, said today by telephone. "We do not expect any production delays."
Production delays at Fremont would have made it more difficult to achieve the company's forecast for this quarter of a profit "about consistent" with third-quarter levels. The electric-car maker delivered 5,500 Model S cars last quarter and last week said it plans to deliver "slightly under 6,000" during the current quarter. It also has a full-year target of 21,500 cars.
Stock price
Tesla, with the biggest share price gain among automakers this year, has endured setbacks since closing at a record $193.37 on Sept. 30. Those include three Model S fires as well as the third-quarter deliveries, which were lower than some analysts had estimated.
The carmaker's stock fell nearly 1 percent to close at $137.60 today. Tesla shares have advanced more than fourfold this year.
CEO Elon Musk said this week at the DealBook conference in New York that "there's definitely not going to be a recall" of the Model S. U.S. regulators haven't ordered a recall or announced whether there will be an official review of the vehicle fires.
Inspectors from California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health visited the Fremont plant to review the accident, said Peter Melton, a spokesman for the agency, in a phone interview Wednesday. The workers had second-degree burns and were sent to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, Calif., for treatment, he said.
Musk visited the injured employees, according to a report on KNTV in San Jose.
"There does seem to be, I think honestly, a bit too much attention paid to Tesla, good and bad," Musk said in the report.
Fire investigation
Tesla is investigating a Nov. 6 fire involving a Model S near Murfreesboro, Tenn., the third accident to result in a blaze in about five weeks. The fire occurred after the car hit a metal tow hitch that had fallen onto Interstate 24, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration hasn't discussed the Tennessee fire beyond a Nov. 8 statement in which it said it's in close communication with the company and local authorities, gathering information about the incident to determine if additional action is necessary.
The factory where the industrial accident occurred is located across San Francisco Bay from Tesla's headquarters in Palo Alto and is the sole production site for the Model S.
The company bought the 50-year-old plant in 2010, after it had been a joint venture between Toyota Motor Corp. and the predecessor of General Motors Co. for a quarter century.
The deal that kept the only large auto plant on the U.S. West Coast in operation was arranged by Toyota President Akio Toyoda, who worked at it in the 1980s. Toyota also bought a stake in Tesla following the factory sale.
The plant opened in the early 1960s in its first incarnation as GM's Fremont Assembly facility. It closed in 1982 before reopening in 1984, rechristened New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., or NUMMI.
