Tesla starts hiring for new $2 billion Shanghai plant

[August 07, 2018]  BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Tesla Inc <TSLA.O> has started hiring for its new Shanghai factory, according to job postings on its website, just a month after the U.S. electric vehicle (EV) maker signed agreements with local authorities for the $2 billion project.

The automaker's website showed it is looking to fill 14 roles including architectural designer and senior finance manager. Most of the positions are senior in level and require at least six years' experience, the job descriptions showed.

Tesla did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment. The 21st Century Herald newspaper, which reported the job postings on Tuesday, said Tesla began advertising the roles on Sunday.

Tesla last month signed agreements with Shanghai authorities to build its first factory outside the United States, which would double the size of the EV maker's global manufacturing.

Chief Executive Elon Musk on an earnings call this month said the factory would cost around $2 billion and that the EV maker planned to fund the project with local debt.

Tesla has said it wants to produce the first cars at the plant about two years after construction begins, reaching as many as 500,000 vehicles a year about two to three years later.

(Reporting by Yilei Sun in BEIJING and Brenda Goh in SHANGHAIEditing by Christopher Cushing)

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