How is the survival situation of the newly arrived Tesla Shanghai factory now?

January is a very important month for Tesla's Shanghai Super Factory.

Production of the China-made Model 3 is finally ramping up after a trial run in 2019. Reports indicate that even with the Lunar New Year shutdown and the subsequent coronavirus outbreak, Gigafactory Shanghai was able to produce more than 2,600 China-made Model 3s in January. This production capacity puts Tesla fifth in China in terms of the number of electric vehicles produced in the country in January 2020.

As of January 25, before the first day of the Chinese New Year, Tesla produced a total of 2,625 Model 3s made in China that month. In total, at the beginning of 2020, Tesla has reached a production capacity of 1,000 pure electric vehicles per week. Such data is quite surprising, especially since the new production line of the Shanghai Super Factory has not been fully optimized. If the production line reaches its maximum capacity, the number of cars that the factory can produce will be even more amazing.

According to previous plans, Tesla's Shanghai factory has a planned annual production capacity of 15 electric vehicles. Based on the current Model 3, its sister model Model Y will also be produced in the future.

Tesla said that the Shanghai Super Factory can produce 3,000 Model 3 vehicles per week. Before the end of 2019, the company said that it could produce 280 vehicles per 10-hour shift, but it plans to significantly increase this data to achieve the goal of 3,000 vehicles per week. This means that less than 430 vehicles must be produced per 10-hour shift.

On February 5, Tao Lin, vice president of Tesla China, announced that Tesla has decided to temporarily suspend operations at its Shanghai factory. Tao Lin also said that the safest approach at present is to temporarily stop the delivery of new cars to ensure the safety and health of the company's employees and consumers. Tesla also provides free super charging for car owners living in affected areas.

The company has now resumed production and delivery on February 10. Although production delays will reduce production capacity in the short term, there is no other solution at the moment. Although the Shanghai Super Factory is not operating at full capacity, it is at least operational again.

Tesla's battery supplier, South Korea's LG Chem, also announced that they resumed operations on February 10. The company's factory in Nanjing is reportedly producing lithium batteries for Tesla. Not long ago, Tesla also signed an agreement with China's automotive lithium battery giant CATL to purchase lithium batteries for the Shanghai factory. This also means that Tesla will basically achieve localized procurement of lithium batteries for the Shanghai factory.

Tesla plans to complete the localization of Model 3 within this year. Public opinion believes that this will not only continue to reduce the sales price of Model 3 in the Chinese market, but will also bring huge opportunities for the construction of China's electric vehicle supply chain and promote the development of the entire electric vehicle industry.

Prior to this, Tesla slightly reduced the price of Model 3 sold in the Chinese market, falling below the 300,000 yuan mark. Tesla's move has caused a great shock to the Chinese electric vehicle industry, and industry executives shouted "wolf is coming".

Technology media and industry insiders generally believe that as Model 3 production capacity continues to increase, Tesla China will sooner or later cut prices for Model 3 on a larger scale and seize market share in China's electric vehicle market through price wars.

Musk has always been an eccentric entrepreneur who does not follow the rules. In the past, Tesla has frequently adjusted prices as a means to attract consumers to buy. The price cuts in the past were so high that they even caused strong dissatisfaction among some old customers.