Tesla Giga Shanghai Production Rises To 80% On Easing COVID-19 Curbs

Tesla Inc TSLA has ramped up production at its Giga Shanghai factory by over 80%, China’s state media Global Times reported on Saturday, citing an official.

What Happened: Tesla was part of the first whitelist of companies put together by Shanghai that were flagged to resume production in a staggered manner. 

Besides Tesla, the first list included China’s SAIC Motor and semiconductor firms as well, the report said, citing Zhang Hongtao, chief engineer of the Shanghai Economic and Information Technology Commission.

The second whitelist of 1,188 companies adds more sectors, including integrated circuits, automobile manufacturing, equipment manufacturing, and biomedicine to resume production.

China has so far allowed a total of 1,854 companies to resume production.

Tesla did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for comment.

See Also: COVID-19 Lockdowns In China Hurt Nio, XPeng And Li Auto: How Do April Deliveries Stack Up?

Why It Matters: China’s month-long extensive lockdowns to curb COVID-19 cases brought automotive and other production to a near standstill. Besides Tesla, Germany’s Volkswagen Group VWAGY, Nio Inc NIO, Xpeng Inc XPEV and others have all been hit by the curbs.

Nio, Xpeng and Li Auto LI all reported lower deliveries for last month over March on Sunday.

Price Action: Tesla closed 0.7% lower at $870.7 a share on Friday.

Photo courtesy: Tesla