After suffering for the last few quarters, Tesla seems to be finally gathering steam. In a move to expand its footprint in China and the Asian market, the company is planning to build another 100 Supercharger stations and double its repair and maintenance centers in the country.
Tesla, which is gearing up to open its long-awaited production unit in Shanghai, wants to capture the electric car market in China. China is the world's largest market for new cars and given the stress the government is giving on building an all-electric car market, Tesla doesn't want to let go the opportunity.
The rollout is likely to start in Shanghai and Guangzhou. Earlier this year, the company's chief executive officer, Elon Musk, had said that it will close down many of its retail showrooms worldwide in a move to cut costs. However, Musk has always treated China differently. The decision to double its maintenance and repair centers and add Supercharger stations is in a move to capture the country's fast growing electric car market.
Tesla plans to increase its service centers to 63 from 29 and Supercharger stations to 362. This will give Model 3 owners in China more options and convenience while planning longer trips, said Tesla's General Manager Wang Hao in a statement. Moreover, the electric carmaker also has plans of converting its showrooms in China as Tesla Centers that will serve as showrooms, delivery centers as well as service centers. And for all this the company is banking on its state-of-the-art Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai which opened in September.
Bouncing back with panache
Tesla's Gigafactory 3, which will be producing Made-in-China Model 3, has come up in record time and started test production in October instead of the company December 2019 target. The initial output of the factory too is also higher than expected.
Tesla's potential as a carmaker was being questioned for quite some time now, with the company failing to meet both production and financial targets quarter after quarter. However, the company last month reported a quarterly profit riding on improvements in operating efficiency and reduction in material and production cost. Tesla's recent impressive show also saw the company once again regaining its spot as the most valuable carmaker in the U.S. dethroning General Motors.
