Tesla’s first mass-market car hits production this week

Elon Musk, the company’s chief executive, said late Sunday on Twitter that production would increase quickly, with 100 Model 3s produced in August and 1,500 or more in September. He said that he expected the company to be able to produce 20,000 per month beginning in December.

The Model 3 is a critical test for Musk and his ambitious plan to turn Tesla into a producer of mass-market electric cars.

Until now, the company has produced luxury cars in relatively small numbers, typically selling them for $90,000 or more. In 2016, it made about 85,000 vehicles. General Motors, by contrast, produced more than 9 million cars and light trucks.

But the Model 3 will be priced around $35,000. Musk envisions the new car reaching a much wider range of customers and has said he expects it to push Tesla’s output to 500,000 cars a year in 2018.

In June, Musk told shareholders that Model 3 production was set to begin in July at the company’s assembly plant in Fremont, Calif., although he stopped short of saying when the car would be available in volume.

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