Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks on January 7 at an opening ceremony of Tesla’s Model Y program in China, Shanghai.
Aly Song | Reuters
Tesla is said to have started delivering locally produced crossovers produced in China, marking another milestone for the electric carmaker in the world’s largest vehicle market.
Deliveries of the crossover produced in China began on Monday, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency. Tesla previously imported Model Y vehicles from its plant in California to China. It is not clear how many Model Y vehicles were delivered or whether they were delivered to employees or retail customers. Tesla did not immediately respond to comments.
China – the world’s largest EV market – is extremely important to Tesla and its growth plans. The company wants to increase the volume of vehicle sales from about 500,000 in 2020 to 20 million annually over the next decade.
China was a driving force behind Tesla’s delivery volume in 2020 – the company delivered 499,550 vehicles, an impressive 36% increase from a year earlier, but just below the latest 500,000 vehicle guidance.
The company began production of the Tesla Model 3 sedan at Gigafactory in Shanghai, China – its first factory outside the US – in late 2019. Deliveries to Chinese customers of the Model 3 began just over a year ago. Since then, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has become the richest person in the world due to a massive gain of 700% in the company’s shares.
Tesla built its $ 2 billion Shanghai plant in just under a year, a quick time frame for the global auto industry. Automakers are setting up local vehicle production to reduce transportation costs and avoid import duties or delays, especially in China.