A truck transports new Tesla cars at its plant in Shanghai, China, May 13, 2021. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo
SHANGHAI, March 28 – U.S. automaker Tesla (TSLA.O) suspended production at its Shanghai plant for four days after the financial center announced on Sunday it would lock down in two phases to conduct mass testing for COVID 19 , two people familiar with the matter said.
The company has notified its workers and suppliers of the move, the people said.
It first tried to create a closed circuit to continue production and called workers on Sunday, one of the sources said. However, it did allow them to leave that evening after deciding it didn’t have enough supplies for them, the source added.
Tesla declined to comment on whether production has been suspended. In a statement to Reuters, it said it always strives to fulfill its epidemic prevention responsibilities and believes that Shanghai’s COVID-19 measures have helped lay the foundation for future development to put to the city.
Shanghai on Sunday said it would lock down the city in two phases to conduct COVID-19 testing for nine days.
Authorities said they would split Shanghai in two for the exercise, using the Huangpu River, which flows through the city, as a guide.
The Tesla factory is located in the new area of Pudong’s Lingang district, which is part of Shanghai’s first phase of lockdown. The lockdown began early Monday and is expected to last through Friday morning.
Tesla suspended production at its Shanghai factory for two days back in mid-March after the city implemented strict movement controls and mass testing. Continue reading
The Shanghai plant produces cars for the Chinese market and is also an important export hub to Germany and Japan. According to the China Passenger Car Association, 56,515 vehicles were delivered in February, including 33,315 for export.
That is an average of around 2,018 vehicles per day.
Reporting by Zhang Yan and Brenda Goh; Edited by Himani Sarkar and Gerry Doyle