Tesla refutes the report that he is the subject of a thorough criminal investigation

Tesla responded on Friday to information that it was the subject of a growing US criminal investigation, claiming that she had not received any subpoenas to appear. Ministry of Justice.

The electric car manufacturer said it received a voluntary request for Department of Justice documents early in the year regarding production guidelines for its mainstream model 3 sedans, and that The company reacted co-operatively.

not "received a subpoena, a request for testimony or any other formal process, and the Department of Justice has no longer requested any documents on this subject for months."

Tesla's statement comes after the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. authorities seek to know if the automaker knowingly misled investors with its model 3 production targets.

The WSJ, citing people close to the case, said FBI agents had contacted former Tesla employees in recent weeks to ask them to testify before the criminal. Case. These employees also received subpoenas related to the investigation, the newspaper reported.

Since its launch more than a year ago, the Model 3 has encountered repeated bottlenecks, forcing Mr. Musk to be under great pressure and forcing him to push back his goals. six months.

at the end of June and has since been able to reach a quarterly target, even though its production levels still represent only half of what Mr Musk had promised to reach by the end of 2018.

Tesla said Friday that she had been "transparent". on the difficulty of producing model 3.

"In the end, given the difficulties we did not foresee in this unique production ramp, it took us six months longer than planned to meet our forecast of 5,000 units per week, "he said.

"Tesla's philosophy has always been to set truthful goals – goals that would never be exceeded and unrealistic goals that we could never achieve. Although Tesla is criticized when he is slow to reach a goal, one must not forget that Tesla has achieved many goals that have been questioned by most. We are extremely proud of the efforts made by society as a whole to overcome this difficult ramp and enable us to achieve volume production.

Tesla shares were hit this year by production concerns and the fallout from founder Elon Musk's claim in August that he had secured the funding needed for the company to remain private.

But the action has regained its balance after Musk last month settled the fraud charges brought before the Securities and Exchange Commission for its "false and misleading" allegations about a possible You're here. redemption.

A surprise return to profitability this week also contributed to the rise in Tesla's share price. The stock is up 1.5% on Friday after yielding most of its morning gains as a result of the WSJ report. The advance brings the gains of the title from its lowest recent level of October 8 to more than 20% and leaves the stock up 4% since the beginning of the year.