SHANGHAI — Tesla Inc. gained a foothold in the world’s biggest market for electric vehicles, completing the purchase of land for its new Shanghai plant, the company announced.
“Securing this site in Shanghai, Tesla’s first Gigafactory outside of the United States, is an important milestone for what will be our next advanced, sustainably developed manufacturing site,” said Robin Ren, Tesla’s vice president of world-wide sales, in a statement issued following a signing ceremony in Shanghai on Wednesday.
The 210-acre site in Shanghai’s eastern Lingang district cost $140 million, according to a Shanghai government website tracking major land purchases in the city. Though it didn’t mention Tesla by name, its description of a large land sale concluded on Wednesday in Lingang almost certainly refers to the Tesla deal.
Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk signed an agreement in July with the local government to build a factory in Shanghai. Telsa TSLA, -1.74% will wholly own the facility, which is intended to produce up to 500,000 cars a year by the end of the plant’s first decade.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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