(Yicai Global) July 21 -- Despite a second-quarter production halt due to Covid-19 outbreaks in China, Tesla’s plant in Shanghai completed equipment upgrades recently that make it the US electric carmaker’s largest worldwide.

Annual production capacity at the Shanghai Gigafactory was more than 750,000 units at the end of the second quarter, surpassing the 650,000 at its plant in California, where Tesla is headquartered, according to the company’s latest earnings report published yesterday.

“While the Shanghai factory was shut down fully and then partially for the majority of Q2, we ended the quarter with a record monthly production level,” Tesla said. “Recent equipment upgrades will enable us to continue to increase our production rate further.”

Tesla’s financial report also showed that second-quarter net profit surged 98 percent from a year ago to USD2.3 billion, while revenue jumped 42 percent to USD16.9 billion. Vehicle deliveries rose 27 percent to 254,695. The company did not break out specific figures for China.

In the first half of this year, Tesla sales in China jumped almost 51 percent to 198,000 cars, ranking third among new energy vehicle makers in China, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association.

Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory was the first auto manufacturing project wholly-owned by a foreign company in China. The plant went into operation at the end of 2019 and produces two vehicles, the Model 3 and the Model Y.

Last year, the plant delivered 484,130 vehicles, accounting for nearly 52 percent of Tesla’s global sales. More than 160,000 China-made units were exported overseas.

Editor: Peter Thomas