Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said the company will increase production of right-hand drive (RHD) Model Y production after facing higher than expected demand for the electric SUV.
Musk made the comments after opening the order books for the Model Y in four new Asia-Pacific markets on Friday, including one of the biggest markets for RHD vehicles, Australia.
We’re working on accelerating RHD Model Y production. Didn’t expect demand to be so high!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 13, 2022
As we reported last week, Tesla was estimating the first Model Y deliveries in Australia would begin sometime between August and November 2022 when the Design Studio first opened.
Within just a few hours that timeline had already been pushed back to between November 2022 to February 2023.
The story was similar when Tesla opened up orders for the RHD Model Y in the UK last year. Deliveries began partway through February and in its first full month of being available, the Model Y was already the best-selling car in the UK, including when compared against cars with internal combustion engines (ICE).
Tesla currently produces the RHD Model Y out of Giga Shanghai. With Giga Berlin ramping up and already producing 1,000 cars per week, Musk will likely push to have his German factory add RHD Model Ys to its production lines soon.
