See inside Tesla's flashy delivery ceremony for its first Chinese-made Model 3s - which even featured a flower-filled wedding proposal

Graham Rapier,Reuters

Dec 30, 2019, 20:51 IST

See inside Tesla's flashy delivery ceremony for its first Chinese-made Model 3s - which even featured a flower-filled wedding proposal

REUTERS/Yilei Sun

Tesla's China chief Zhu Xiaotong speaks at a delivery ceremony for China-made Tesla Model 3 vehicles in the Shanghai Gigafactory of the U.S. electric car maker in Shanghai, China

Tesla delivered its first 15 cars that were made in China on Monday with spectacular flair.
Less than a year after breaking ground, Elon Musk's company delivered the first 15 cars made at its Shanghai Gigafactory.
The Chinese plant is a move to avoid effects of the US-China trade war and increase access to the world's largest auto market.
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Less than a year after breaking ground on its first factory in China, Tesla delivered its first batch of cars made in the country to eager employees on Monday.

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In the US, the company tends to avoid marketing blitzes and flashy ceremonies for things other than product launches. But in China, that was not be the case.

15 cars, the first batch made in Shanghai, rolled off the assembly line Monday as part of Elon Musk's push to increase sales in the world's largest auto market - and avoid further injuries from the US-China trade war. Tesla's original goal was to start deliveries before the Lunar New Year on January 25.

Here's a look inside the delivery ceremony:

Tesla's China chief Zhu Xiaotong was on hand to oversee the delivery.

In China, Tesla has offered racing events and showroom parties to drum up demand for its electric vehicles, and Monday's event was no exception — a big shift from its US approach.

"From now onwards China-made Model 3 vehicles will start running on China's large streets and small lanes," Tesla Vice President Tao Lin said at the delivery ceremony which was attended by employees and Shanghai government officials.

One employee even proposed to his girlfriend at the ceremony. One car was filled with flowers for the occasion.

She said yes.

Tesla is also building service centers and charging stations across the country to assure customers of standardized after-sales service, Tesla's senior executives said, confirming a Reuters report on the plans published last month.

It also plans to double the number of service centers and fast charging stations in China next year, in addition to doubling its after-sales workforce to 1,500 from about 600 currently, the executives added.

Wang, the general manager, also told reporters the plant had achieved a production target of 1,000 units a week, or around 280 cars a day, and that sales for the China-made sedan had so far been "very good".

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