(Yicai Global) April 25 -- Some employees at Tesla China reportedly declined to comment on a Reuters report claiming the US electric vehicle maker's Shanghai plant is producing Model Y cars to be exported to Canada.

There is no response to the report at the moment, staffers at the Chinese arm of the Texas-based automaker told Shanghai Securities News yesterday.

Tesla's Shanghai gigafactory has started producing a cheaper version of the Model Y to be shipped to Canada, Reuters reported yesterday, citing a person with direct knowledge of the plan and production memo. This would be the first time Tesla's China-made EVs are exported to North America.

The Shanghai gigafactory is Tesla's largest manufacturing hub and China's first wholly-foreign owned plant after the country lifted restrictions on overseas capital holding in new energy vehicle firms. It reached an annual output of 1.1 million cars last year.

Tesla sold 137,400 EVs in China in the first quarter, making up over 30 percent of its global total, data from the China Passenger Car Association showed. Tesla China's exports reached 91,900 units in the period.

Tesla's revenue from the Chinese market rose 5.2 percent to USD4.9 billion in the three months ended March 31 from a year earlier, accounting for 21 percent of the firm's total, Tesla said yesterday. The revenue ratio of the Chinese market to the total was 22.3 percent last year.

The US remained Tesla's largest market in the first quarter, with sales jumping 29 percent to USD11.2 billion from the same period last year. Revenue from other international markets soared 34 percent to USD7.2 billion.

Editor: Futura Costaglione