Half of Tesla's global deliveries in 2021 came from China, as the EV maker moved its export hub to Shanghai from Fremont

Huileng Tan
Updated ·2 min read

  • About half the 936,000 vehicles Tesla delivered last year came from Tesla's Gigafactory in Shanghai.

  • Tesla made its Shanghai factory its primary vehicle export hub last year.

  • Tesla's production at its Shanghai Gigafactory has overtaken that of its Fremont, California, factory.

Tesla's Gigafactory in Shanghai looks poised to play a more prominent role after the electric vehicle maker moved its export hub from Fremont, California, to China.

According to Reuters calculations, about half the 936,000 vehicles Tesla delivered last year came from Tesla's Gigafactory in Shanghai.

The estimate comes on the back of data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) yesterday, which showed the EV maker sold a record 70,847 vehicles in December, taking the total sales of its made-in-China cars to at least 473,078 in 2021, according to Reuters calculations. In December, Tesla exported just 245 vehicles out of China, but exports were far higher in October and November — 40,666 and 21,127, respectively — according to the CPCA. Tesla typically focuses on local deliveries in the last month of the quarter, Musk said in a tweet.

Robust deliveries from China come as production at Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory has overtaken its former top factory in Fremont, California.

In its second-quarter earnings presentation last year, the world's most valuable carmaker said that it had made the Shanghai factory its primary vehicle export hub "due to strong US demand and global average cost optimization."

In the third quarter, Tesla said production "ramped up well" in Shanghai despite supply chain challenges faced by the auto industry globally. The company said during its Q3 results briefing that potential annual output at the Shanghai plant exceeded 450,000 vehicles.

Tesla plans to invest up to $1.2 billion Chinese yuan ($188.5 million) into expanding production capacity at its Shanghai site, Reuters reported, citing a filing to the Shanghai government and state-backed newspaper Beijing Daily.

Tesla's Shanghai factory started deliveries at the end of 2019. It makes electric Model 3 sedans and Model Y sport-utility vehicles for the Chinese markets and beyond, including Europe.

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