Due to severe restrictions in China caused by another outbreak of coronavirus, many automakers were forced to stop their production. Tesla, which has a Gigafactory located in Shanghai, is no exception. The company returned to work on April 19 after a 22-day downtime. Over the past month, the American brand has produced about one and a half thousand electric cars, which is 98 percent less than the March result.
Before the suspension of capacity, Shanghai Gigafactory produced 65,800 electric vehicles in March. After 22 days of downtime, Tesla specialists planned to assemble up to 2,600 electric cars per day, but now the company plans to reach at least 200 models per day. The unstable situation is connected with the shortage of components that the car factory cannot receive due to another lockdown in Shanghai. At the same time, it is possible that coronavirus restrictions will be extended in the region until the end of May.
In addition to Tesla, coronavirus restrictions have affected the entire Chinese automotive market. According to experts, over the past April, car sales in the country decreased from 36 to 48 percent compared to March. At the same time, experts emphasize that despite all the difficulties with production, the popularity of battery models in China continues to grow.
In mid-April, Nissan stopped several car factories in China. As in the case of Tesla, the conservation of capacity was due to a lack of components, which was provoked by covid restrictions in Shanghai.
Source: Reuters