Is Tesla already hiring in China for its next project?
At the beginning of July, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) announced that it was going to open a new factory in Shanghai, China. Dubbed the Gigafactory 3, the plant is scheduled to be operational later this year or early 2019.
However, bricks and mortar have yet to hit the ground and despite this, Tesla has already begun hiring its staff for the factory. How this makes sense remains to be seen.
Tesla Already Hiring in China
Taking to its WeChat account, the company sought out more than a dozen engineers and mechanics via a social media posting saying “The ‘Dreadnought’ is about to sail, we are recruiting the first batch of sailors and looking forward to having you on board soon.”
Expectations for the Gigafactory 3 are high; about 250,000 vehicles and battery packs will be produced annually, with a plan to double that over time to 500,000 vehicles. To meet those demands, Tesla is going to need a lot of manpower, so perhaps there is a sense in recruiting now. (Cart before the horse, anyone?)
But first, it needs the factory, and to bring the Gigafactory 3 to life will require a significant investment.
It is reported that Tesla may be looking to China to drum up the $5 billion USD (or thereabouts) cost of building a factory at 500,000 vehicle capacity. Although, Musk himself hinted at downsizing that ambition at a conference last week, by saying said it would cost closer to $2 billion USD for a building with a max capacity for 250,000 vehicles. He also expressed that Tesla will not have to raise capital from outside its own profits for the build (a poor Q2 performance can’t help but refute this claim a little bit though).
Tesla production numbers always seem to be a tad ambiguous so as it stands it is hard to know how many cars will actually roll off the belt annually.
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It’s Got To Be China
Whatever is in store for the Gigafactory 3, Tesla needs to set up in China if it wants to truly dominate the electric vehicle (EV) market. China has the largest EV market in the world and at the moment, the Asian country is Tesla’s second largest market.
Model 3’s are already expected to come out of the Gigafactory 3 in three years, so if time constraint isn’t an incentive to begin the build, having somewhere to put all your new staff might just be.
Featured Image: Freepik
