Shanghai is in its sixth week of an intensifying COVID-19
lockdown that has tested the ability of manufacturers to operate amid hard
restrictions on the movement of people and materials.
Tesla had planned as late as last week to increase output to
pre-lockdown levels by next week.
It was not immediately clear when the current supply issues
can be resolved and when Tesla would be able to resume production, said the
people, who asked not to be identified because the production plans are
private.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a query for comment.
China Passenger Car Association is scheduled to release
April sales for Tesla, China's second-largest EV maker behind BYD, on Tuesday.
Another auto association said last week it estimated overall
auto sales in China dropped 48 percent in April as zero-COVID lockdowns shut
factories, limited traffic to showrooms and put the brakes on spending.
Aptiv, Tesla's main supplier of wire harnesses, stopped
shipping from a Shanghai plant that supplies Tesla and General Motors after
COVID-19 infections were found among its workers, two people familiar with the
matter told Reuters on Monday.
Tesla's Shanghai plant, also known as the Gigafactory 3,
produces the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover for the China market and for
export.
Tesla partially resumed production at the Shanghai plant on
April 19 following a 22-day closure caused by the city's COVID-19 lockdown.
Tesla had been aiming to increase output at its Shanghai
plant to 2,600 cars a day from May 16, Reuters reported previously.
Shanghai authorities have tightened a city-wide lockdown
imposed more than a month ago on the commercial hub with a population of 25
million, a move that could extend curbs on movement through the month.