There’s a statement which Elon Musk tries to deliver with each of his speeches, tweets and other related interactions. While some have obviously gone south, some of his speeches do deliver the kind of statement you’d perhaps see only Tony Stark delivering.
Well, one such speech and an accompanied statement was delivered today. Right in front of the top bosses of some of the largest automakers in the world, just a few hours away from the birthplace of the combustion engine, Musk delivered that statement. His company Tesla, will open its next Gigafactory in Germany.
Everything about Elon Musk’s announcement was more like ‘salt on the wound’ kind of situation for the Audis and the BMWs in the audience. “Some of the best cars in the world are obviously made in Germany,” Musk said while accepting a trophy for the Model 3, which beat out BMW and Audi sedans for midsize car of the year. He said the country is “not that far behind” in electric cars, while also acknowledging that the market for them is “unproven.”
The news wasn’t completely a surprise, since Musk has said before that Tesla would announce the location for a factory in Europe before the end of this year, and that Germany was a frontrunner. But then, the sheer timing of the news — Tesla announced a surprise profit recently — makes it dramatic. Such has been Tesla’s evolution, that most of those automakers in the audience can never again dismiss the company as a ‘niche’ electric car maker.
According to reports from German media, the gigafactory will be located near Gruenheide, just outside Berlin in eastern Germany — near the coming Berlin Brandenburg Airport.
For Tesla’s design center, Berlin has offered locations including the site of the existing Tegel airport, which will be phased out after the new hub is opened, according to a letter from the city’s economy minister. Around 10,000 jobs will be created, Bild reported.
Things have moved in a blazingly accelerated manner when it comes to Musk’s manufacturing plans off late. It has been just a few years since he announced the company’s China’s Gigafactory. Months later in January this year, he broke ground, and here we are today, with the factory almost ready to start operations.
Tesla shares traded up 0.7% before the market opened in New York. They closed Wednesday at $349.93, their highest since December, after Musk announced his plans.
