The US electric car maker Tesla will stop production of the Model Y for a week after Christmas as part of its planned production cuts at the Shanghai plant. Between December 25th and January 1st the tapes for the in China best-selling car still, Tesla announced in an internal letter seen by Reuters. Two people familiar with the matter confirmed the information.
Tesla is targeting total production of just over 20,000 Model Y vehicles for the last three weeks of December combined. In November, Tesla was producing 13,000 Model Y cars a week, the insiders said. It was initially unclear whether the Model 3 would also be affected by the production cut.
The Tesla plant in Shanghai is struggling with increased inventories, but still recorded its highest monthly sales of over 100,000 cars in November. Earlier this week, insiders leaked news that Tesla intends to ramp down production in Shanghai in December. Like other car manufacturers in China, the group is faced with increasing competition from local electric car manufacturers.
The carmaker is now trying through a time-limited Discount of 6,000 yuan (870 euros) on some models to attract buyers in China. In November, car sales in China fell for the first time in six months due to the corona lockdowns. They fell by 9.5 percent to 1.67 million units. For 2023, experts from the industry association CAAM expect slight growth in the car market in China.