In early July this year, Tesla held a special job fair for factory technicians and team management positions in Shanghai, including 7 workshops including stamping, welding, and painting, with a total of 28 positions.

Reporter of the planned Shanghai factory, Li Xing, Editor of the company: Duan Siyao,

Picture source: Reporter of the company, Hua Ang (data photo)

There are only two months left before the planned trial production time of the Shanghai factory, and Tesla is urging the recruited employees to take up their posts as soon as possible.

In early July this year, Tesla held a special job fair for factory technicians and team management positions in Shanghai, including 7 workshops including stamping, welding and coating, with a total of 28 positions. At present, people participating in the interview have received oral employment notices one after another, and Tesla requires these employees who are oral hired to "report quickly, the better."

"Tesla is currently recruiting engineers and technicians, and has been on duty one after another." On July 16, relevant staff from Tesla China told the reporter of "Daily Economic News". However, the reporter learned from an insider of Tesla's China that Tesla has laid off a number of employees in China, and the layoffs are still continuing. As for whether the newly recruited employees can take up their posts by the end of July, it is still difficult to say.

While stepping up urging recruitment of employees to hurry up, Tesla still does not forget to adjust its prices to strive for more markets. On July 16, Tesla adjusted the price of several of its models in the Chinese and American markets at the same time. This is the fifth price cut by Tesla for its models since November last year.

Wang Hao, general manager of Tesla China, said in an interview with the media that the price of Tesla's multiple models fell last year, and the main factor was the decline in production costs. With large-scale production, Tesla is willing to transmit the decline in production costs to consumers, and will further lower the prices in the future.

Tesla adjusted the price again

On July 16, Tesla's official website showed that the price of Model 3 series models was adjusted. The starting price of its standard range upgraded version dropped from 377,000 yuan to 355,900 yuan, the long range all-wheel drive version dropped from 463,000 yuan to 429,900 yuan, and the high-performance version dropped from 522,000 yuan to 499,900 yuan.

The above-mentioned Tesla insider in China told the "Daily Economic News" reporter that this time, except for the different proportions of the high-end models of the Model S and Model X, the prices of other models have been lowered.

In addition, in the US market, Tesla's starting price for Model 3 has dropped from $32,225 to $30,315. The price of Model S is raised from $65,125 to $70,115, and the price of Model X is raised from $71,325 to $75,315.

Regarding the main reason for the price reduction of some models this time, Tesla said that it is to make the threshold for owning products lower. Wang Hao said that Tesla's maximum annual production capacity was around 100,000 vehicles in the past, and now it can produce hundreds of thousands of vehicles a year. Correspondingly, the supply chain cost is also falling; in addition, tariff adjustments are also another important factor in Tesla's price reduction, "Consumers around the world should enjoy the same price to obtain Tesla. Fairness is what Musk pursues."

However, the reporter learned that the price of the domestic version of Model 3 is not within the price adjustment range of this time, and the starting price is still 328,000 yuan, which disappoints many Chinese users who pre-purchase Model 3. In this regard, Wang Hao said that the price of the domestic version of Model 3 was accurately estimated by Tesla. A large number of parts still need to be imported in the early stage of production, and there will be no sharp drop in prices due to domestic production.

Not long ago, the domestic version of Model 3 has begun to accept reservations, and the expected delivery time is 6 to 10 months. According to the plan, the trial production time of Tesla's Shanghai Super Factory may be in September this year. After completion, the first phase will have an annual production capacity of 250,000 vehicles and will be delivered at the end of this year. Tesla CEO Elon Musk previously said that the annual production of 500,000 cars in Shanghai's super factory is just a medium-term goal, and it may exceed 1 million in the long run.

Shanghai factory is recruiting

According to the reporter, all those who attended the interview on site passed the first batch of Tesla resume screening. Tesla has not set up a re-examination session for this recruitment. It is notified within one week after the interview and will start training on July 29. This means that the front-line employees Tesla recruits this time will be launched as early as July.

A relevant staff member of the talent market in Pudong New District told reporters that Tesla recently held a job fair just rented the venue, and Tesla will notify whether there will be a re-examination session.

This is not Tesla’s first public talent job fair for Shanghai Super Factory. On May 29, Tesla held its first public special job fair in Lingang, Pudong, Shanghai, recruiting four major workshops, stamping, welding, painting, and assembly, as well as two departments, facility operation and logistics, with a total of 24 positions.

At the same time, Tesla recruits WeChat official account is still recruiting employees for Shanghai Super Factory. The above-mentioned relevant person in charge of Tesla China told reporters that if you want to apply for a job in a Shanghai factory, you can apply directly online.

In addition to stepping up recruitment of employees, the Tesla Super Factory has also been basically built. Recently, Ma Chunlei, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government and director of the Shanghai Development and Reform Commission, publicly stated that the construction of Tesla's Shanghai factory has been basically completed and has now entered the installation stage of production equipment.

On January 7 this year, Tesla Shanghai Super Factory (Phase I) officially started construction in Shanghai Lingang Industrial Zone. According to the plan, the Shanghai Super Factory will produce Model 3 electric vehicles and future new models for the Chinese market. After the factory is completed, it is planned to produce about 3,000 Model 3s per week in the initial stage, and annual output will climb to 500,000 after full operation.

The layoffs in China are still continuing

It is worth noting that Tesla "replenishes blood" for the Shanghai factory and holds talent recruitment meetings many times; on the other hand, it lays off employees significantly to save costs.

"The company has laid off many people and is still laying off." The above-mentioned Tesla insider revealed to the reporter of "Daily Economic News" that the insiders are now in panic.

Previously, it was reported that Tesla was adjusting its Asia-Pacific business unit and would conduct a large-scale layoff plan in China. At the same time, a new department in Greater China may be established, which may be led by Zhu Xiaotong, the current vice president of operations in Asia-Pacific and president of China. Other teams in the Asia-Pacific region will report directly to Musk.

Insiders in Tesla China told reporters that the reason why Tesla has laid off employees is mainly because the company's funds are difficult to operate and needs to save costs. Data shows that in the first quarter of 2019, Tesla's total revenue was US$4.541 billion, a month-on-month decline of 37.16%, and a net loss of US$702 million. In terms of delivery volume of

, in the first quarter of this year, Tesla delivered a total of 63,000 vehicles, a month-on-month decrease of 31%. Tesla's delivery volume did not increase until the second quarter. Data shows that in the second quarter of this year, Tesla produced about 87,000 vehicles, an increase of 12.9% from the first quarter and delivered about 95,200 vehicles, an increase of 133.5% from the same period last year. Among them, the Model 3 delivered about 77,600 vehicles in the second quarter of this year.

A Tesla Chinese staff member who did not want to be named revealed to reporters, "The main market for Tesla's sales to increase sharply in the second quarter was not in China. The domestic Model 3 market sales were not as good as the outside world saw. Among the 95,200 new cars delivered, the sales from the Chinese market were less than 10,000."

Tesla once said that Tesla's automobile production is expected to exceed the expected 360,000 to 400,000 vehicles in 2019. If the super factory located in Shanghai can achieve "mass production" at the beginning of the fourth quarter of this year, Tesla's total global market output in 2019 can reach 500,000 vehicles.

Daily Economic News