Musk: Tesla suspended production in the second quarter, China battery factory site will be announced

On May 3, Beijing time, Tesla released its first quarter earnings report. In the subsequent conference call, Musk said that the second super battery factory will be announced before the fourth quarter of this year, and plans to announce construction in China. The location of the super battery factory. He also revealed that the future super battery factory will also take into account automobile manufacturing. At the same time, Tesla official said that in the second quarter, the company is expected to suspend production for about 10 days, in order to solve the production bottleneck of various products.

In fact, in the past one to two years, Tesla’s news of building a battery super factory in China and building a factory to produce cars has been heard.

At CES 2017, Panasonic revealed the establishment of a battery factory in China. At the time, Matsushita said that Panasonic would consider producing batteries for Tesla's future Chinese plant, which is equivalent to its production in Nevada. In addition, he also said that Tesla has planned to start local production of pure electric vehicles in Shanghai. Panasonic is also considering promoting investment in Chinese factories. Although detailed plans for producing batteries in China have not yet been finalized, Panasonic is already considering the possibility of producing Tesla batteries in China.

Panasonic is Tesla's exclusive supplier of automotive batteries. The two companies jointly invested $5 billion in 2016 to build the world's largest automotive battery plant in Nevada, USA, and in 2017, Panasonic in Tesla, New York. The Gigafactory of Buffalo City produces solar cells for Tesla's partner Sun City.

Subsequently, Musk said that Tesla's Chinese factory will be established within three years, when Panasonic may participate in the production of batteries and vehicles, and in this conference call, Musk also said that the future super battery factory will also Take care of car manufacturing.

Of course, in addition to the establishment of a battery super factory, the news that Tesla entered the factory in China is no secret. Every once in a while, I will see rumors that Tesla will build a factory in China.

As early as last October, there were reports that Tesla had signed an agreement to build a factory in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. After the factory is completed, Tesla still needs to pay a 25% import tax, but will own The company's full controlling interest, and lower production and transportation costs are likely to offset the cost of customs duties.

At that time, Tesla told reporters, "In order to better serve the Chinese market, Tesla is discussing with the Shanghai Municipal Government the possibility of building factories in the region."

For Tesla, building a factory in China is of great significance. Despite the fact that Tesla still has to pay a 25% tariff, the overall cost is calculated. Tesla's production of cars in China will significantly reduce the cost of logistics and spare parts, and attract Chinese consumers at a lower price.

In addition, we must also know that China is now the largest market for various vehicles such as electric vehicles. In 2016, Tesla only achieved sales of US$1 billion in China, and China became Tesla after the United States. The second largest market. For Tesla, China's market potential has not been fully explored.

Regarding the construction of a wholly-owned factory in Shanghai, Musk also said that Tesla's factory in China is scheduled to start production in 2020, producing "hundreds of thousands of" cars every year.

The establishment of a Chinese battery factory is good news for Tesla. At the same time, Tesla's first-quarter revenue and adjusted loss per share performance were also better than Wall Street analysts expected.

The financial report shows that Tesla's first quarter revenue was 3.409 billion US dollars, higher than the 2.696 billion US dollars in the same period last year, the net loss was 785 million US dollars, compared with the net loss of 372 million US dollars in the same period last year, which was attributed to ordinary The net loss of shareholders was $710 million, which was also increased compared to the net loss of $330 million attributable to ordinary shareholders during the same period last year.

In addition, the results also showed that the production of Tesla Model 3 reached 2,270 vehicles per week in April, and weekly production reached more than 2,000 vehicles for the third consecutive week. Tesla said it expected to suspend production for about 10 days in the second quarter, including days it had suspended production in April, in order to address production bottlenecks and raise production to new levels.

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