Tesla is aiming to produce slightly more than 20,000 Model Ys in the last three weeks of December, including the week when output is suspended, according to Reuters.
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Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) will suspend Model Y assembly at its Shanghai plant from December 25 to January 1 as part of a planned production cut of about 30 percent of the SUV model at the plant in the month, a Reuters report said today.
The suspension of assembly at Tesla's Shanghai plant for the year-end holiday is not an established practice, the report said, citing two people familiar with the matter. The plant maintained normal operations during the last week of December last year, the report noted.
Tesla is aiming to produce slightly more than 20,000 Model Ys in the last three weeks of December, including the week when output was suspended, the report said, citing a memo.
By comparison, Tesla kept Model Y production at about 13,000 units per week in November, which equates to 39,000 units in three weeks, according to the report.
It's unclear how and if Model 3 production will be affected by Model Y's planned suspension of production in the last week of the month, the report said, adding that the Model Y accounts for the largest share of production at the Shanghai plant.
On December 5, Reuters and Bloomberg both reported that Tesla plans to reduce production at its Shanghai plant by more than 20 percent as demand has not met expectations.
Tesla has been trying to keep the plant running at full capacity since it opened in China in late 2019. The company's Shanghai plant produces the Model 3 sedan as well as the Model Y crossover.
Tesla upgraded the production lines at the Shanghai plant in July and August, allowing annual capacity to increase to about 1.1 million units, according to multiple media reports previously.
However, following the capacity expansion, Tesla's demand in China does not appear to have grown in tandem.
On September 27, Reuters cited two people familiar with the matter as saying that despite the recent upgrades, Tesla plans to keep production at its Shanghai plant at about 93 percent of capacity by the end of the year.
In a December 8 report, Bloomberg cited people familiar with the matter as saying that Tesla will shorten production shifts at its Shanghai plant as soon as Monday.
The plant will operate two 9.5-hour shifts per day, down from the current two 11.5-hour shifts, and will result in lower monthly pay for production staff, the report said.
Tesla sold 100,291 China-made vehicles in November, a single-month high, according to data released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) on December 5.
The electric vehicle giant delivered 62,493 vehicles in China in November, and its Shanghai plant exported 37,798 vehicles, data released by the CPCA on December 8 showed.
