Jan. 8 (NBD) -- U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA)'s China-made Model 3 delivery ceremony was held on Tuesday, and ten Model 3 sedans produced by the company's Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai were delivered to customers at the event.

Tesla also launched the local manufacturing program for its all-electric compact crossover utility vehicle Model Y in China. 

Stock of the startup closed at 469.06 U.S. dollars on Tuesday with a rise of 3.88 percent.

File photo/Qu Maomao (NBD)

1,000 Model 3 cars pre-ordered daily

Elon Musk, founder and CEO of Tesla, noted at the ceremony that with amazing "Shanghai speed", the company set a record for automobile factory construction worldwide.

The Gigafactory 3, as the first wholly foreign-funded auto factory in China and also the largest foreign-invested manufacturing project in Shanghai, took only one year to complete construction. The Model 3, the largest contributor to Tesla's sales, became the first model to be delivered by the new plant.

The production capacity of the Gigafactory 3 now stands at 3,000 cars per week, and the annual output will be around 150,000 pure-electric cars.

National Business Daily noticed that the Model 3 is well received by the Chinese market. A salesperson from Tesla revealed the daily pre-orders for the China-made version reaches up to 1,000 units in China.

The hot sales are partly stimulated by price cut Tesla announced on January 3. The start price of the Model 3 declines to 299,050 yuan (43,059.8 U.S. dollars) after including China's subsidy offered for new-energy vehicles.

Following the Model 3 and Model Y, more Tesla models will be put into local production in China, and Tesla expects to create a China design and engineering center to design original car model in the country, Musk disclosed at the ceremony.

Domestic supply chain to benefit

This year, Tesla will further localize its supply chain.

Around 30 percent of auto parts adopted in the first batch of Tesla models delivered were provided by Chinese companies, and the percentage is to climb to 70 percent in mid-2020 and to 100 percent by the end of this year.

Industry insiders believed the operation of the Gigafactory 3 will spur the development of China's new-energy vehicle supply chain.

Currently, more than 100 suppliers have been directly or indirectly included in Tesla's system, with products offered ranging from powertrain system, electric drive system, charging system and chassis to interior and exterior parts.

Analyst at Guotai Junan Securities pointed out as the production capacity of Tesla models in China gradually expands, there will definitely see a rise in needs of the raw materials for the Model 3's batteries, electric motors and shells.

"Upstream raw materials such as cobalt, manganese, nickel, lithium and graphite as well as downstream materials like connectors will be in strong demand. China's manufacturers and operators of electric vehicle charging equipments and Vehicle-Grid Integration solution providers are expected to benefit as well," the analyst added. "The whole power battery industry chain is to gain benefits from Tesla's business expansion."

Email: lansuying@nbd.com.cn