“We will produce 20 million electric cars a year”

After the inauguration of the Berlin factory, the third of the brand after Freemont and Shanghai, the South African tycoon is preparing to cut the ribbons also of the new Austin plant and aims to largely take the head of the world car manufacturers: “an aggressive goal, but in 2030 not impossible “

Gianluigi Giannetti

March 26, 2022 – 2:17 pm

“There are 2 billion cars and pick-ups in use on the planet, and reaching a production of 20 million units every year is a fair result.” Elon Musk already goes beyond the inevitable celebratory ballet that he performed on March 22nd at the inauguration of the new Berlin plant. To his employees he exhibits the tones of a provocation that plays on a hyperbolic number, but then has a rather clear meaning for the automotive industry. Aiming for the 20 million cars manufactured every year means in fact the more concrete intention of undermining the dominance of those who today occupy the first two places in the ranking of world manufacturers, with figures actually halved. Toyota, first in the world, produced 10.4 million vehicles in 2021, followed by the Volkswagen group with 8.8 million. The message was naturally also directed to those Wall Street operators who have long been skeptical about the possibility that Tesla could ever increase its volumes, that is, moving from the category of luxury manufacturer to a role in the mass market. After all, the Cybertruck model has been postponed until 2023, but above all the development of the small Model 2 does not yet provide certainties. The company, for its part, has announced that it intends to substantially expand production, going from 936,172 specimens in 2021 to the two million expected in 2024, a figure that is reasonably achievable.

the jewels of the crown

Musk’s empire now rests on the potential production capacity of the factories that are there, or that will be there very soon. The historic Fremont factory, where Tesla assembles the Model S and Model X, can rise from the current 450,000 to 600,000 each year. The Shanghai plant, which opened two years ago, according to AutoForecast analysts now has a capacity of 864,000 pieces, but the agency Reuters adds that Tesla is planning the construction of a second site with the aim of reaching a total capacity on Chinese soil of 2 million vehicles per year. The new Berlin plant is credited with 500,000 vehicles, according to JP Morgan estimates, but only starting from 2025. On 7 April Tesla will then inaugurate the Austin factory in Texas, where the headquarters have been established since last October. company lawyer. The assembly lines will dedicate themselves to Model Y and subsequently to Cybertruck but, again according to the findings of AutoForecast Solutions, the production capacity of 400,000 vehicles per year will only be reached in 2024.



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