© Reuters. ARCHIVE PHOTO: A Tesla poster is seen at its factory in Shanghai, China, on May 13, 2021. REUTERS / Aly Song
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Tesla (NASDAQ 🙂 Inc. has restored the weekly production of its Shanghai plant to almost 70% of the level it had operated before the city’s COVID-19 blockade, according to two people familiar with the subject.
The U.S. automaker, which added a second shift of workers in the middle of last week, is expected to further increase production this week, people said, who declined to be named because of the issue. it is private.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Returning production to pre-blockade levels has been a challenge for Tesla at its Shanghai plant, known as Gigafactory 3, amid the ongoing blockade of the Chinese economic center that forced the factory to close for 22 days.
Although the city government had given significant help to Tesla to reopen, the company had faced numerous obstacles, such as insufficient manpower and logistical problems that affected the supply of parts, including cables.
This often forced him to delay plans to reopen or increase production and even stop most of his production at the plant at some point.
Following the reopening on April 19, the Tesla factory produced 10,757 vehicles at the end of April, selling 1,512, according to data released by the China Passenger Car Association.
This is compared to the 65,814 cars sold in March and was the lowest sales figure since April 2020, four months after the factory began delivering cars made in China.
Shanghai authorities will cancel many conditions for companies to resume work from Wednesday, a city official said on Sunday, as he wants to start lifting the city-wide blockade that began about two months ago. it will also introduce policies to support its battered economy.
Efforts to stimulate consumption included adding 40,000 car ownership quotas for the year and subsidizing people who exchange their old combustion-powered vehicles for electric cars with batteries.
The move comes after Premier Li Keqiang held a key meeting last week urging local authorities to take steps to boost economic growth during the second quarter and curb rising unemployment after the country’s strict zero-COVID movement restrictions disrupted production and curbed consumption for many. parts of the country.