According to a recent report from our friends over at Teslarati, Tesla has plans to grow its employee base at its Giga Shanghai manufacturing facility in China, which produces vehicles for local consumption, as well as functioning as an export hub. 

The publication received news of the plan from Tesla's Environmental Impact Assessment for the Gigafactory in China. The information was first discovered and widely shared by Troy Teslike on Twitter:

Not only is Tesla on the verge of opening two completely new global production facilities – one in Texas and another in Germany – but it's also expanding in Fremont, California, and Sparks, Nevada. This new information proves Tesla has already expanded in China as well, and it's expanding even further related to a "new model."

As you can see from the translation above, Tesla has already expanded the existing production area in China by 1,000 employees, and it's expanded the new model production area by 3,000 employees. The new model area is now up to 6,000 workers, and it will increase to 9,000 after the expansion is complete. In the end, Tesla will employ some 19,000 workers in total at Giga Shanghai.

Tesla aimed to hit a run rate of about 450,000 vehicles per year out of Giga China. However, it has already exceeded that significantly. As of the end of the year, the run rate settled in at around 635,000 units, though the rate peaked at over 650,000 units at the end of October.

One can only assume the new facility is for the potential $25,000 model Tesla is planning, which will be designed and produced in China for the global market. Of course, the report could be referring to another model or even a current Tesla model that's not yet produced in China, but that's highly unlikely.

See More Tesla China News:

What's your take on this? Is Tesla already gearing up to begin producing a new model in China? Are people overthinking the wording in the recent report? Leave us your wisdom in the comment section below.

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