Tesla starts exporting China-made Model 3s to Europe

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- The first China-made Model 3s to be exported to Europe will leave Shanghai port on October 27 and are scheduled to arrive at Belgium port at the end of November, Tesla announced on Oct. 26.

After arriving at the destination port, these Model 3s will be sold to 10 plus European countries and are forecasted to generate an export value amounting to 450 million yuan.

Made-in-China Model 3

The 7,000 made-in-China Model 3s exported to Europe are all from the Standard Range Plus RWD version, according to earlier reports.

Reuters reported a week ago that Tesla said it would export China-made Model 3 cars to more than 10 European countries this month, including Germany, France, Italy and Switzerland, where the Tesla vehicles currently sold there are all imported from the U.S..

Tesla's Q3 2020 Update Letter noted that the China-based plant had a run-rate of 250,000 Model 3s per year. Once the Model 3 factory in Giga Shanghai fully ramps up, the facility output would likely reach even more impressive numbers.

According to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), the retail sales of the homegrown Model 3 totaled 79,908 units for the first nine months of 2020. Based on the present sales performance, the sales of China-made Model 3 are anticipated to stand below 150,000 units in 2020, which means the Shanghai Gigafactory is still able to spare capacity for export business.

Aside from Tesla, Chinese EV startup Xpeng Motors also launches its offensive into overseas market. On September 24, a ro-ro ship loaded with 100 Xpeng G3i SUVs officially departed from Guangzhou and is expected to arrive in Norway in November.

Elsewhere, BMW is preparing to export its iX3 BEV model, which is made at the joint-venture plant in Shenyang, China, to Europe as well.