Tesla and Panasonic Freeze Expansion of Gigafactory, Nikkei Says | Bloomberg

Also see Tesla and Panasonic suspend investments in Gigafactory expansion, report says | Electrek

"Tesla Inc. and Panasonic Corp. are suspending plans to expand the capacity of their $4.5 billion U.S. plant in the face of uncertain demand for electric vehicles, the Nikkei reported Thursday.

The pair had intended to raise capacity 50 percent by 2020 to the equivalent of 54 gigawatt-hours, but financial problems forced a re-think, the Nikkei said without citing its sources. Panasonic also intends to suspend planned investment in Tesla’s battery and EV plant in Shanghai, and instead provide technical support and a small number of batteries from the existing Gigafactory, the newspaper reported.

Tesla shares fell as much as 4.7 percent to $263.20 in pre-market U.S. trading. Through Wednesday, the shares had declined 17 percent this year amid signs of softening U.S. demand for its Model 3. The Nikkei report emerged after Tokyo trading closed."

Tesla and Panasonic Freeze Expansion of Gigafactory, Nikkei Says | Bloomberg