Tesla Giga Shanghai factory is operating at full capacity and significantly outpacing sales based on recent production data. Giga Shanghai reportedly produced 87,706 Model 3/Model Y electric vehicles in October, as per InsideEVs.
Production exceeds sales
The annual production would be close to 1,050,000 million if this rate were sustained over a full year. Moreover, this forecast represents a substantial increase from the reported production capacity of more than 750,000 units.
There have also been estimates that following the factory’s summer refurbishment, Giga Shanghai will be able to manufacture as much as 1.1–1.2 million units per year (or 100,000 each month). According to Reuters, production has been considerably outpacing sales these past few months.
In fact, a total of 16,002 units were left unsold or exported in October compared to the 87,706 that were produced. This figure is in addition to a 9,095 gap in Q3.
Production at Giga Shanghai differs from wholesale sales, as shown below:
- Q3 2021: -4,174
- Q4 2021: 1,181
- Q1 2022: -3,287
- Q2 2022: 2,646
- Q3 2022: 9,095
- October: 16,002
Model 3 and Model Y sales
Recently, Tesla reduced the pricing of the Model 3 and Model Y. The automaker also offered new incentives to boost local sales after its order backlog in China stagnated. Additionally, export is at a record high level, which keeps the factory active.
Tesla sold 2,809 Model 3 cars in China in October, increasing 566% YoY. Meanwhile, 14,391 Model Y cars were sold at an 8% increase. The Model 3 had 102,409 local sales this year to date, decreasing 9% YoY. On the other hand, the Model Y was up 120% at roughly 233,910.
For comparison, Tesla sold over 138,000 and over 150,000 Model 3s in 12 months of 2021 and 2022, respectively. The Model Y saw close to 170,000 sales in 2022. It implies that while Model Y is still expanding, Model 3 outcomes remain mostly stagnant.
Given that sales have lagged behind production in recent months, the automaker needs to develop a solid strategy to close the gap.
