Coronavirus outbreak to delay Tesla deliveries, says electric car VP on Weibo

Shares of Tesla Motors were down 19% on Wednesday after a senior executive with the electric vehicle company warned of delivery delays for Model 3 cars made at its Shanghai plant, because of the ever-worsening coronavirus outbreak in China.

Novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV has disrupted life and commerce throughout China. The Chinese government says 65 more people died of the virus as of Tuesday, the highest daily total yet.

From Reuters:

Tesla Vice President Tao Lin said on the Weibo social media platform that car deliveries from its new Shanghai plant would be temporarily delayed and that the company planned to restart production on Feb 10.

The $2 billion factory is a key part of Chief Executive Elon Musk's plan to make more than half a million automobiles this year.

Tesla last week said it expected a delay of up to a week and a half in the ramp-up of Model 3 production at the plant after the government ordered it to shut the factory due to the outbreak.

Read More:
Tesla tumbles as coronavirus weighs on Shanghai factory
[reuters.com, Noel Randewich, February 5, 2020 / 11:27 AM]