Made-in-China Tesla EVs for US? Elon Musk has a one-word response

The biggest Tesla facility outside of the US is in Shanghai and the Chinese plant serves as base for units produced not just for the local market but for select European countries as well as Australia and south-east Asia. So when a report highlighted possible plans of Tesla also exporting from here to its home base of the United States, it did create a flutter. It is just that Tesla isn't planning this at all.

News agency Reuters cited sources to report that plans are afoot to possibly export Made-in-China Model 3 and Model Y units to the US, pending approvals. With all green signals in place, the report stated that the exports could start as early as next year. But Tesla CEO Elon Musk has responded to the report with a one-worded denial. ‘False,’ he wrote on Twitter in response to the report.

Tesla serves the US market with units manufactured at its facilities in Fremont (California) and Austin (Texas). While a bulk of its models are manufactured in Fremont, the Austin plant is home to the Model Y and the upcoming Cybertruck. As for the Shanghai facility, the company manufactures Model 3 and Model Y units here, and has a stated production capacity of 1.1 million units each year.

But while the Tesla Shanghai facility is base for supply to the Chinese customer base - China is the world's largest EV market, as well as Europe, Australia and south-east Asia, it did seem a bit improbable for units from here to make way to North America. This is also because of how the Joe Biden administration in the US is offering incentives for EVs made in North America. There are also economic and trade-related tensions between the US and China, and Musk probably won't want to be caught in the possible crossfire