Weeks after Tesla, with help from the Chinese government, managed to reopen its factory in Shanghai, reports indicate that the plant is experiencing production interruptions because of a lack of parts.
According to a memo seen by Reuters, Tesla expected to make just 200 vehicles at the plant on Tuesday and two unnamed sources said that the facility had halted operations altogether on Monday.
Giga Shanghai is attempting to make vehicles through a prolonged lockdown in China precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Tesla was only recently able to reopen the plant on April 19 after a 22-day shutdown.
Read Also: Tesla To Expand Shanghai Factory, Thanks Authorities For Help In Reopening
The reopening was made possible with the help of Shanghai city officials who “fought” for days to guarantee Tesla could bring employees back to its factory. That’s according to a letter the automaker sent to the government, thanking it for the help.
The reopening was initially successful, with the company producing 10,757 vehicles by the end of April. Once it had ramped up, the plant made up to 1,200 vehicles per day or about 1,000 more than it expected to make today.
Despite those high production numbers, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) reports that Tesla sold just 1,512 vehicles that month. That was the least it sold since April 2020 and down considerably from March, when it shifted 65,814 vehicles.
Although sales in China dropped by as much as 48 percent in April, as a result of lockdowns and closed factories, the CPCA reports that sales of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids were actually up 50 percent thanks to strong performances by BYD and SAIC-GM-Wuling.
This is all bad news for Tesla, which had reportedly been hoping to ramp production up to 2,600 vehicles per day at the plant by as early as next week. Making things worse, authorities have tightened the city-wide lockdown, which could extend curbs on movement for the rest of the month.
