Tesla plans to resume production at its Shanghai plant from April 4 - sources

SHANGHAI, April 3 (Reuters) - Tesla (TSLA.O) is aiming to resume production at its Shanghai factory from Monday, two sources familiar with the matter said, as it expects to see its first batch of workers released from a lockdown the city imposed to combat a surge in COVID-19 cases.

Production at the U.S. automaker’s Shanghai factory, which produces cars for the China market and is also a crucial export hub, has been halted since March 28 as the government launched a two-stage lockdown that started in areas east of the city’s Huangpu River where Tesla’s plant is located.

Still, Tesla’s resumption plans could change due to Shanghai’s evolving COVID-19 policies, one of the sources told Reuters.

Tesla had originally hoped to only halt operations for four days, but cancelled production plans for Friday and Saturday after the authorities extended tight movement restrictions in the eastern half of the city. Virtually all of the Shanghai is currently under lockdown.

The seven-day stoppage marks one of the longest suspensions since the factory started production in late 2019. Tesla manufactures 6,000 Model 3 and 10,000 Model Y cars per week at its Shanghai factory, one of the people said.

Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“This was an exceptionally difficult quarter due to supply chain interruptions & China zero Covid policy,” its chief executive officer Elon Musk said in a tweet on Saturday.