Tesla plans to increase production output at its Shanghai manufacturing facility over the next two months to meet demand, which has seen a significant increase due to steep price drops over the past few months. Reuters reports that the automaker has already begun preparing for that. The report goes on to state that Tesla plans to produce an average of nearly 20,000 cars weekly at the Giga Shanghai plant in February and March.
The report further stated that this vehicle production level will bring the Shanghai Giga factory’s output to close to its own pace by September 2022, when the factory rolls out 82,088 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, as cited by the China Tourist Car Association (CPCA). However, Tesla has not officially announced anything about this plan.
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In the past few months, Tesla has repeatedly announced the price reduction of its electric models worldwide. China is a big market for the brand, and the automaker has announced several price cuts in the country. This has helped the auto company register higher demand for its vehicles. Now, in an effort to maintain this momentum, Tesla aims to increase production volumes. However, in addition to the recent surge in demand, Tesla has aimed to increase production of its vehicles at all of its factories worldwide in order to reduce the notorious wait times for which the auto company is famous.
In December 2022, Tesla’s Giga Shanghai factory cut production by about a third from the previous month. In addition, it extended the Lunar New Year break for factory workers to January 2023 to cope with rising inventory levels. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said last week that orders the company received in January of this year nearly doubled output following the announcement of price cuts.
Tesla currently produces Model 3 and Model Y cars at the Giga Shanghai facility, which are the brand’s two best-selling electric vehicles. With the planned production ramp-up, not only Chinese buyers but also consumers from other markets will reduce waiting times in the coming days.
First published date: February 1, 2023, 20:12 PM IST
