China grants Tesla green light to start selling Shanghai-made Model Y SUV


FILE PHOTO: Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk attends an opening ceremony for Tesla China-made Model Y program in Shanghai, China January 7, 2020. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo

(Reuters) – Tesla Inc has obtained permission to start selling its Shanghai-made Model Y sports utility vehicle in China.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology published the approval on its website on Monday.

Tesla, now sells its Model 3 electric cars in China and has been building new car manufacturing capacity in Shanghai to make its Model Y SUVs. It applied for the Shanghai-made Model Y SUV sales permission earlier this month.

It started delivering vehicles made in its Shanghai factory last December and sold more than 13,000 vehicles in China in October.

The company has started exporting China-made Model 3 cars to Europe and said last week it plans to also start making electric vehicle chargers in China in 2021.