Tesla starts delivering its first China-made Model Y crossovers

The Shanghai plant was built in juat a year.

Automotive giant Tesla marked another milestone as it started delivering Shanghai-produced Model Y crossovers in China.

State-run Xinhua News reported the deliveries of the crossovers started last January 18, however, it wasn’t declared as to how many models were transported. Tesla also did not disclose if the models were delivered to employees or directly to retail customers.

The company earlier expressed its vision to raise up its vehicle sales volume from more than 500,000 in 2020 to about 20 million annually in 10 years.

Tesla delivered over 499,550 vehicles in 2020, marking 36% increase from the previous year. This growth has been backed by retail in China, the world’s largest electric-vehicle market.

The company’s factory in China, the first plant outside the US, started manufacturing Tesla Model 3 sedan back in 2019. Direct deliveries to Chinese buyers began over a year ago, at the time when Tesla CEO Elon Musk has become the richest person in the world.

The two billion-dollar Shanghai plant was built in just a year, unusually rapid for a global automotive industry player. Lower shipping costs and fewer import duties and delays were the main reasons why most giant automakers establish local vehicle production across the globe.