Leading electric car manufacturer Tesla Inc. (TSLA) has put on hold its plan of buying land in Shanghai due to uncertainty between China and United States following extended trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
Sources involved in the matter revealed that Tesla is intending to scale down production in China. Previously, the company had announced its plans of expanding exports of its China-made entry-level Model 3 to more markets.
Back in March, Tesla took a step back from bidding on a plot of land across the road from its Shanghai gigafactory as it no longer seeks to ramp up production in China. In a press statement, Tesla said its Shanghai gigafactory was developing as intended.
According to an update posted on Tesla’s website on March, the company is revamping its plant in Shanghai to increase capacity output. Currently the plant is designed to produce up to 500,000 cars annually.
The adjacent land from the plant is about 100-acre (40 hectare) if Tesla buys it then it will increase the company’s production capacity by an additional 200,000 to 300,000 cars annually.
Sources disclosed that the Shanghai government is engaging several companies with an aim of selling the land Tesla was aiming at purchasing.
