Tesla is once again shipping cars from China after a three-week closure of the Gigafactory in Shanghai.
Reuters reported that the company shipped its first cars from China yesterday after reopening the factory on April 19.
According to Chinese media, a shipment of 4767 cars has been sent to Slovenia, and another 4,100 will be shipped on Friday.
Tesla is said to be aiming to export 300,000 vehicles from Shanghai by 2022 and is aiming to reach a daily output of 2,600 vehicles from May 16.
A leaked memo is seen by Reuters said it will initially produce less than 200 vehicles per day at the plant, below the 1200 daily that the company had increased prior to the closure.
Tesla’s vehicle sales plummeted 98% in China in April, and the company hasn’t exported any vehicles from its Shanghai factory as it faces the COVID-19 lockdown.
Data from China Passenger Car Association shared by CNN Tesla said Tesla sold only 1512 vehicles in mainland China in April, while production fell 81 percent to 10,757 vehicles.
Tesla reportedly did not export any cars made in Shanghai in April. It exported 60 units in March, a month when Tesla topped the charts for electric vehicle sales in China.
The Shanghai factory closed on March 28 and only reopened on April 19.
CEO Elon Musk said Tesla has been dealing with an imbalance between supply and demand for some time, and this is exacerbated by the latest supply chain hurdles.
Musk at the Financial Times Future of Cars conference said: “Demand is currently outstripping production to absurd levels.
“We may actually limit or just stop taking orders for anything outside of a certain period because some times [for delivery of new orders] more than a year left. ”
All Australian markets Model 3s originated in China, and Model Y will also come from there.
Model 3 wait times have reached 9-12 months in Australia, while Tesla has yet to confirm Model Y launch time.
The Model Y has been certified by the Australian government for local sale in September 2021 and pricing is announced by Car chases last month.
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed late last year that the Shanghai factory had surpassed the Fremont, California factory in terms of output, although output recently began production at a new plant outside. Berlin, Germany and one in Austin, Texas.
It exported 484,130 vehicles in 2021 from China out of a total of 936,000 vehicles delivered globally.
Shanghai is in its sixth week of a COVID-19 lockdown, and Tesla has reportedly been operating a “closed-loop” system at its factory there with workers scheduled to work 12-hour shifts and sleep at factory.
But even with this system and support from the Chinese government, Tesla still faces supply chain problems.
Reuters is reporting production has been halted again on Monday, this time due to difficulties procuring parts.
Supply chain issues and China’s COVID-19 lockdown have affected not only Tesla, but also companies like Toyota and Ford.
Toyota Announcement this week it had to reduce its May production target by another 50,000 units, while its initial inventory levels Ford Ranger was eased, with a leaked dealer bulletin naming the COVID-19 key as the culprit.
