American electric vehicle maker Tesla will commence delivery of Tesla Made in China Model 3 to customers on Jan. 7, 2020, according to a report from Reuters, which got the news from the company's representative during a recent event at Gigafactory 3. Unlike those earlier deliveries, these customers are not Tesla employees. The Shanghai facility, also known as Gigafactory 3, is the company's strategy to bolster its presence in the world's largest auto market as well as to minimize the effect of the current US-China trade war.
Tesla employees who purchased the MIC Model 3 were the first to get their hands on the China-made electric vehicle on Monday after the first batch of vehicles produced in the Gigafactory rolled off the facility's production line in October 2019. Over the past weeks ahead of the Shanghai event, several reports from China revealed that GF3 is steadily producing and shipping MIC Model 3. This happened while Tesla is still waiting for the approval of the Chinese government for the sale of its vehicles.
By the time Tesla's GF3 began deliveries to its employees, several photos of the facility revealed that its parking lot is overflowing with Model 3 electric vehicles. The deliveries of the Made in China Model 3 vehicles comes barely a year after the groundbreaking and construction of the only Tesla facility outside the US. The production of Gigafactory 3 began in October with the goal of 250,000 vehicles a year as soon as the Tesla Model Y is included in the lineup.
At present, the Made in China Model 3 retails at around $50,000 before subsidies. Earlier, the US electric vehicle maker said that it aimed to begin deliveries before the Chinese New Year starts or on Jan. 25, 2020. Gigafactory 3 General manager Wang Hao also said that it plans to increase Model 3 deliveries this month.
During the Shanghai event, some Tesla executives informed reporters that the facility achieved its production goal of 1,000 units a week or approximately 280 Tesla Model 3 every day. Additionally, they also said that sales for the MIC Model 3 in the region are very good. The company has started taking pre-orders for a while, but, it has not yet revealed the exact number of pre-orders.
Tesla is also reportedly aiming to increase its weekly production target to 3,000 per week. It may be possible since the company plans to ramp up the number of shifts per day. It is also currently looking for 5,000 additional workers to fill its vacant posts.
