Red Star Capital Bureau reported on May 4 that Tesla will set up a second factory in Shanghai, mainly producing Model 3 and Model Y models, increasing the annual production capacity of 450,000 vehicles, making Tesla Shanghai factory "the world's largest car" Export Hub".
Red Star Capital sought a response from Tesla in this regard, but has not received a response as of press time.
Previously, on April 19, Tesla’s Shanghai plant reopened after a 22-day shutdown.
According to the China Securities Journal, on May 1, Tesla sent a "thank you letter" to the Shanghai government, thanking the government for its efforts to help Tesla's Shanghai factory resume work.
It is worth noting that Tesla also clearly stated in the thank-you letter that it plans to build a new factory near the current Tesla Shanghai Gigafactory.
Shangguan News learned from people familiar with the matter that negotiations between Tesla and the government on related matters have already started, and Tesla’s new Shanghai factory is already under preparation, but has not signed a contract yet.
If the plan to build the second factory is true, the completion of the expansion of the new factory will help Tesla to increase the total production capacity of the Shanghai factory to 1 million vehicles per year.
Last year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed that the Shanghai Gigafactory has now surpassed the Fremont factory in production capacity, and Tesla has made the Chinese factory a new major export hub.
According to the data, Tesla’s Shanghai plant will deliver about 484,100 vehicles (including exports) in 2021, accounting for 51.7% of Tesla’s cumulative global deliveries in 2021.
Just on April 21, Tesla released its 2022 Q1 earnings report.
According to the financial report, Tesla’s total revenue in the first quarter increased by 81% year-on-year to $18.756 billion; net profit exceeded $3.3 billion, a year-on-year increase of 658%.
Tesla said the year-over-year increase in revenue was due to increased vehicle deliveries, higher average selling prices, and growth in other businesses.
In the conference call, Musk said that although the Shanghai factory has recently reduced production capacity due to the shutdown, it has now resumed production capacity.
He forecasts that the second-quarter production will be flat with the first-quarter output, but will be very high in the third and fourth quarters.
He estimates Tesla could produce 1.5 million vehicles this year.
Official data show that Tesla delivered 310,048 new cars in the first quarter of this year, an increase of 68% compared with the same period last year.
It is particularly noteworthy that Tesla's first-quarter GAAP (US General Accounting Principles) gross profit margin for automobiles was as high as 32.9%, a figure far exceeding that of traditional car manufacturers.
Chengdu Commercial Daily-Red Star News reporter Yu Yaoqiang and Yu Dongmei