It is reported that Tesla's Shanghai factory will suspend production of Model Y from December 25 to January 1 next year.

Thank you, Mr. Air, a netizen of CTOnews.com, for your clue delivery! On the evening of December 9, Beijing time, it is reported that an internal memo shows that Tesla's Shanghai plant will suspend production of Model Y electric vehicles from December 25 to January 1 next year.

The suspension of production of Model Y is also part of Tesla's previous plan to cut production by 30 per cent, according to two people familiar with the matter. The Shanghai factory is Tesla's most important manufacturing center, and the Model Y is also Tesla's best-selling model.

By contrast, the Shanghai plant remained operational in the last week of December. It is not an established practice for factories to close on year-end holidays, the two people familiar with the matter said.

Tesla has not yet commented on this.

According to the internal memo, Tesla aims to produce slightly more than 20,000 Model Y cars in the last three weeks of December, including the upcoming suspension of production. By contrast, production of the Model Y remained at about 13000 vehicles a week in November, equivalent to 39000 in three weeks.

It is not clear whether the production of Model 3 at the Shanghai plant will be affected. At present, Model Y accounts for the largest share of the output of the Shanghai factory.

It was reported earlier this week that Tesla planned to cut production at the Shanghai plant's Model Y and Model 3 production lines by about 20 per cent this month. But a representative of Tesla later said the claim of the production cut was "groundless".

Tesla will shorten the working hours of production line workers at the Shanghai factory as early as next Monday and has postponed the appointment of some new employees, a person familiar with the matter said yesterday. This further shows that the market demand for Tesla electric vehicles has not met expectations.