EV giant Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) on Monday reminisced about delivering the first Model 3 cars made at the company's gigafactory in Shanghai.

What Happened: "Five years ago today, the first Model 3 cars produced at Giga Shanghai were delivered to our customers. Since then, Giga Shanghai has produced over 3 million vehicles, about one-third of which have been exported to markets worldwide," Tesla said in a post on social media platform X.

Tesla's gigafactory in Shanghai manufactures the company's Model Y SUV and Model 3 sedans for sale in China and export to foreign countries including Europe. As per the company's recent quarterly report published in October, the company has a currently installed annual vehicle capacity of over 950,000 vehicles

The company achieved a 3 million production milestone at the factory in October.

Why It Matters: Tesla's Model 3 currently starts at 231,900 yuan in China with the more premium Performance variant starting at 335,900 yuan. The Model Y SUV, in comparison, starts at 249,900 yuan.

China is an important market for Tesla. In 2024, the company reportedly sold around 657,000 vehicles in China, marking a growth of 8.8% year-on-year, even while its global annual deliveries fell as compared to 2023.

Tesla reported global deliveries of 1.79 million vehicles in 2024, down from full-year deliveries of 1.81 million in 2023 and marking the first decline in over a decade.

Tesla is now putting up a mega factory in China aimed at the production of its energy storage products. The company started trial production at the factory in December before formally starting mass production in the first quarter of 2025.

Check out more of Benzinga's Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.

• Nvidia Supercomputer, Operating System To Power Toyota's Next-Gen Vehicles

Photo courtesy: Shutterstock