China will see the first deliveries of Tesla´s Model Y

Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) has begun shipping its Model Y crossover, made in Shanghai, China. This is a major milestone for the company in the fast growing electric vehicle market. Deliveries started on Monday, according to Xinhua News Agency, but it is unclear how many Model Ys were delivered. It is also still unclear whether the deliveries were made to private customers or employees, as Tesla has not yet commented on this. Tesla laid the foundation stone for its Gigafactory in Shanghai two years ago to expand its capacities and produce cars locally for the world's largest EV market. The on-site production of the electric cars saves the company transport costs and helps it avoid import duties. The Chinese market is very important to the Palo Alto, California company's growth plans. Tesla plans to increase vehicle sales to 20 million over the next ten years. China made a significant contribution to Tesla's delivery volume last year with around 499,550 vehicles delivered. That was an impressive 36% increase year over year, but was slightly below the forecast of 500,000 units. The Model Y is the second Tesla car that the electric car manufacturer is producing in the Gigafactory after starting delivery of the Model 3 sedan over a year ago. While Tesla ramped up production of the Model 3 sedan, the company also built an assembly line for the Model Y cars. Last year, the Model 3 was Tesla's best-selling electric car in China, with over 138,000 units delivered, an eighth of all electric cars sold in that country. Conditions in China are favorable for Tesla to continue to grow sales, considering the government wants EVs to account for around 20% of all auto sales by 2025. Analysts have forecast that the Chinese EV market will grow strongly in the next few years. However, Tesla has to fight for market share with competitors like Nio Inc., which is planning to introduce its ET7 luxury sedan.