Tesla plans to increase production capacity at its Fremont, California, plant, according to an email from the company’s president of automotive Jerome Guillen which was published in part by Bloomberg news.
“While we can’t be too specific in this email, I know you will be delighted with the upcoming developments,” Guilen said in an email to employees on Tuesday, adding that preparations are underway to boost vehicle output at the company’s main plant.
Guillen added that Tesla will produce “significantly” more vehicles this year than the 360,000 to 400,000 that it previously forecast to investors in its first quarter update letter. It’s not clear if that would go beyond the 500,000 that CFO Zach Kirkhorn hinted could be reached if the company’s new factory in Shanghai “is able to reach production volume” in the last quarter of this year.”
The last time Tesla increased Fremont capacity in a notable way was through the construction of two tents containing assembly lines in 2018.
Shares of Tesla climbed about 2% in early trading Wednesday following the Bloomberg report.
A Tesla spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
In the first week of July, Tesla reported second-quarter delivery numbers that hit the high end of Wall Street’s expectations, helping to boost the company’s stock price. However, shares are still down more than 23% since the beginning of the year as analysts fear a dropoff in demand could further hurt Tesla’s business.
“The Stamping, Body, Paint, and General Assembly lines in China are well underway and hitting records in both line design and fabrication,” Guillen’s email read.
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