With the news that more electric vehicles would be sold in China in 2022 than in the rest of the world combined, it's no wonder that Tesla has been keen to invest in the country's EV market. CEO Elon Musk has even been described as having a love affair with the People's Republic, praising its "economic prosperity" on the Communist Party's centenary. Since investing $2 billion (£1.7bn) to build the Tesla gigafactory in Shanghai, completed in 2019, Musk has launched the company's insurance broker in China and joined a lawsuit with 3,500 other US businesses suing the American government for imposing tariffs on Chinese goods. And he hasn't stopped there.
On 31 December 2021, Tesla opened a showroom in Xinjiang, a controversial region linked heavily to allegations of slave labour and genocide. Musk's actions have sparked fierce criticism, but his Chinese investment seems to be paying off. A fifth of Tesla's sales came from China in 2020, more than double its sales there in 2019. This generated $6.6 billion (£5.2bn) for the electric car and battery company, and with a new showroom it's likely that the figure increased in 2022. Indeed, in August 2022 Musk announced on Twitter that the company had manufactured its one-millionth car in the country.
However, sources revealed back in September that production at a Tesla factory in Shanghai would be kept at 93% capacity for the remainder of the year, despite having just upgraded its weekly output by 30%, according to Reuters. It's not clear why this decision was made, but it's likely that 2022's persistent COVID-19 lockdowns played a part.