Tesla says China plant continues to make cars; no halt notice

TESLA hasn’t halted output at its Shanghai factory, though it is experiencing some disruption to logistics amid the city’s long-running Covid-19 lockdown, a spokesperson for the US carmaker said Tuesday (May 10).

Reuters reported earlier that output had halted, prompting Tesla to issue a statement saying it had received no notice of any Shanghai plant cessation and pointing out that some vehicles are still being made. 

Tesla’s China factory was shuttered for 3 weeks in April as Shanghai was plunged into lockdown in an attempt to halt community spread of Covid-19. The plant started up again in late April under a so-called closed loop system whereby workers live on site and are tested regularly.

Prior to the pandemic-induced halt on Mar 28, Tesla workers in Shanghai were working 3 shifts covering 24 hours, 7 days a week. The workers in the current closed-loop system have been doing 12-hour shifts, 6 days a week.

One of the problems stems from a shortage of wire harnesses from Aptiv, which had to stop shipping supplies from a plant that supplies Tesla and General Motors after infections were found among its employees, Reuters said.

Tesla’s Shanghai factory, which in regular times pumps out around 2,100 cars a day, remains challenged by component shortages, other people familiar said last month. The US automaker only has inventory for just over 2 weeks based on its current closed-loop schedule and logistics are a major problem for many other parts. BLOOMBERG