UACJ Corporation, one of Tesla’s aluminum part suppliers announced further investment to increase production of certain parts just before the beginning of Model 3 production. Though the level of steel versus aluminium parts in the car has not yet been revealed, the suppliers are making themselves ready for the production.
The amount of steel and aluminium to be used in the car give insights into repair costs. Repairing aluminium parts is more expensive than steel parts. UACJ Corporation, a major Japanese aluminium group, announced that it would invest about US$26 million into an aluminium part manufacturing company which it acquired last year in order to supply aluminium parts for Tesla’s Model 3.
UACJ acquired Michigan-based SRS Industries in 2016 which was already a supplier for Tesla’s Model S. Now they have won the contract for Model 3 and UACJ believes the new investment will be for the production of “roof rails and supportive parts for frames” for the all-electric vehicle. The company expects the investment to raise their production capacity by about 50% by the end of 2017.
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After receiving more pre-orders than expected, the company launched an accelerated production program for Model 3. CEO Elon Musk said that the company would facilitate aggressive sourcing with support from internal teams and third party suppliers in order to meet the deadline.
While Tesla plans to have an overall annual production rate of 500,000 cars at some point in 2018, it is not yet clear what it will look like from July up to that point.
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