SHANGHAI, May 3 (Xinhua) -- The production rate of Tesla's Model 3 sedans in its Shanghai gigafactory will top 4,000 units per week by mid-2020, the U.S. electric carmaker said on Thursday.

The Shanghai gigafactory was producing 280 vehicles every day at the end of last year.

Tesla's product line in Shanghai only contained the Standard Range Plus version of Model 3 in the first quarter. The company has launched an online configurator for a Long Range version and a Performance version since April.

The carmaker said it will continue to ramp up production of Model 3 in Shanghai in the second quarter, with more efficient assembly lines of the Shanghai-built Model Y SUVs, which will start deliveries in 2021.

Tesla reduced the price of the Standard Range Plus version of Model 3 made in China to from 303,550 yuan (about 43,000 U.S. dollars) to 271,550 yuan on Friday to meet the government's new eligibility requirements for subsidies.  ■