Tesla has started the deliveries of Model 3 electric cars constructed at its Shanghai factory in less than a year since it started working on the $2 billion plant, a record for global automakers in China.
Tesla has stated that it would increase deliveries from next month.
The U.S. electric automaker marked the beginning with an event on Monday where 15 Tesla employees got the cars they had bought, one of whom took the opportunity to propose marriage to his girlfriend one he got his new car.
The China-made Model 3 sedans have a price tag of 355,800 yuan ($50,000) prior to the subsidies. Prices of imported Model 3 vehicles begin at 439,000 yuan for the longer-range version, whereas the standard range plus model costs below $40,000 in the United States.
The Shanghai plant, up and running in for only 357 days, is part of Tesla’s plans to increase its presence in the world’s biggest auto market and decrease the effects of the U.S.-China trade war.
The automaker, which earlier imported all the vehicles it sold in China, had stated that it wanted to start deliveries from the Shanghai plant prior to the Lunar New Year beginning on January 25.
“From now onwards China-made Model 3 vehicles will start running on China’s large streets and small lanes,” stated Tesla Vice President Tao Lin at the delivery ceremony which was attended by workers and Shanghai government officials.
China General Manager for the Silicon Valley automaker Wang Hao stated Tesla plans to increase Model 3 deliveries in January.
The Chinese government has been supportive of the factory, the first completely foreign-owned auto plant and a reflection of Beijing’s wider shift to open up its auto market.
Tesla has adopted a different stance for the Chinese market, the world’s biggest for electric vehicles with 1.3 million new-energy vehicles sold in 2018.
The company and its billionaire CEO Elon Musk openly disagree with marketing, but in China, the automaker has offered racing events and showroom parties.
It is also constructing service centers and charging stations throughout China to assure customers of standardized after-sales service, Tesla’s senior executives stated.
The automaker plans to double the number of service centers and fast-charging stations located in China by 2020, and prepares to more than double its after-sales workforce to 1,500 from about 600 presently, the executives added.
Wang also informed reporters the plant had accomplished a production target of 1,000 units per week, or around 280 cars a day, and that sales for the Chinese-built sedan had so far been “very good”.
