Tesla has lined up Rmb11.25bn ($1.6bn) in cheap new financing from a consortium of state-backed Chinese lenders as it races to start deliveries of its mass-market Model 3 sedan from its Shanghai Gigafactory.
The electric carmaker is counting on the new plant to supply the massive Chinese automotive market while sidestepping shipping costs and tariff uncertainties, which this year already forced Tesla to raise and lower prices with the twists and turns of Washington’s tit-for-tat tariff battle with Beijing.
The new Shanghai plant was built in record time with groundbreaking in January of this year and Chinese authorities giving Tesla the go-ahead for mass production in November. The plant will double Tesla’s production capacity of its Model 3 sedan, analysts say.