Tesla’s monthly sales are steadily increasing, and ensuring the supply of production capacity is the primary problem currently facing.
Statistics from the China Passenger Transport Association show that Tesla China’s wholesale sales in January reached 59,845 units, second only to BYD’s 93,101 units; 40,499 units were exported, accounting for nearly 80% of new energy vehicle exports in January.
Tesla’s monthly wholesale sales in China have steadily reached the 50,000-unit segment. Looking back at October-December 2021, Tesla China achieved monthly wholesale sales of 54,391, 52,859, and 70,847 units, respectively; the number of exports fluctuated at 40,666, 21,127, and 245, respectively.
Tesla’s Shanghai plant mainly produces Model 3 and Model Y models, not only responsible for delivery in China but also assumes the role of a global export center.
According to the figures disclosed in Tesla’s financial report, the Shanghai plant’s existing annual production capacity is greater than 450,000 vehicles, which means that the monthly sales volume of more than 50,000 vehicles has brought pressure on production capacity. Tesla’s official website shows that it currently takes 12 to 16 weeks to order Model 3 and Model Y.
In order to increase the scale of production capacity, Tesla’s Shanghai factory is being expanded. According to the EIA announcement of the second phase of the production line optimization project of the Tesla Shanghai Super Factory (Phase I), the total investment in the production line optimization project reached 1.2 billion yuan, of which 85 million yuan was invested in environmental protection, accounting for 7.08%; mainly involving stamping workshops, the expansion of the body shop, painting shop, final assembly shop and logistics operation center, which will start in December 2021 and is expected to be completed in April this year.
Tesla said that the above-mentioned projects will increase production capacity by increasing working hours, increasing the number of employees, and increasing the frequency of material turnover. Sla did not disclose the specific number of capacity additions.
It is worth mentioning that Tesla intends to build a second factory in Asia. The company’s CEO Elon Musk said at the fourth-quarter earnings report that the new site is expected to be announced by the end of this year. Recently, foreign media reported that Tesla is accepting a bid to build a second Gigafactory in China.
There have been many speculations about Tesla’s second factory in China before, and there have been “scandals” in Chongqing, Qingdao, Xi’an, Shenzhen and other places. The most recent one was on February 14th, an article on the “Liaoning Release” official account said: “Combined with the urban renewal of the civil service area, it will open up the space for industrial development, and lay the foundation for the implementation of major new energy vehicle projects such as Tesla. The news immediately attracted market attention, but Tesla denied that it had settled in Shenyang, saying that the location had not yet been determined. The relevant content of the above article has also been deleted.
Globally, Tesla also has capacity bottlenecks. Tesla’s fourth-quarter financial report shows that the four models produced a total of 305,800 vehicles and delivered 308,700 vehicles during the quarter. The production and delivery volumes in the previous three quarters were also very close; a total of 930,400 vehicles were produced throughout the year and 936,200 vehicles were delivered.
Musk expects deliveries to easily grow to 50% in 2022, with just the two completed factories in Fremont and Shanghai. Currently, the Fremont plant has a production capacity of 600,000 vehicles, and the production time of the Berlin and Texas plants has been repeatedly delayed.
The Texas plant has started trial production of Model Y at the end of 2021, and deliveries can begin after product certification, and the Berlin plant has started vehicle production equipment testing.