SHANGHAI: Tesla Inc. plans to ship cars made at its Shanghai Gigafactory to other markets in Asia and Europe, according to people familiar with the matter.
They said the markets targeted include Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, as well as Europe, where customers currently have to wait for a Tesla to be delivered from the US. Shipments could start as soon as the end of this year, or early 2021, according to the people. Europe has led the growth in 2020, with EV sales in the continent’s main auto markets more than doubling in January to July compared with the same period in 2019, according to BloombergNEF. Renault SA’s Zoe has dominated, and Tesla is also facing competition from Volkswagen AG and BMW AG’s new electric models.
In China, Tesla delivers around 11,000 cars a month, all for the domestic market. Upstart NIO Inc. has been averaging around 3,500 recently, by comparison.