Brexit uncertainty makes Tesla opt for Germany over UK
On Tuesday, the Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, announced that the
company would be opening a plant near Berlin to build batteries for its
electric cars to be be launched in the European Market. Musk also voiced the
Brexit uncertainty as one of the key factors behind his decision to set up a plant
in Germany instead of UK, which he was considering earlier.
In an interview with a trade magazine, Auto Express,
Musk said that uncertainty over Britain’s decision to exit or be a part of the European Union “made it too risky” for the company to
establish it Gigafactory there.
Germany, which closely escaped recession with 0.1% growth
in last quarter, is the right place for Tesla for more reasons than one. The
big advantage which comes along the way of Tesla over its decision to move to
Germany is the tag ‘made in Germany’, which takes care of the quality issues.
The country is known for its engineering expertise and is home to two of the
world’s biggest carmakers - Volkswagen and Daimler.
On Tuesday night, at a prestigious German car awards
ceremony in Berlin, Musk said, “Everyone
knows German engineering is outstanding for sure. You know that is part of the
reason why we are locating Gigafactory Europe in Germany.”
In order to bring the largest European economy back on
track, German carmakers and suppliers are also provided with a 1 billion euro
($1.10 billion) fund set up to accelerate battery cell production. The country’s
government is also setting a research facility for better understanding of
battery cell development to support the automakers.
Author: Rashmi Sacher
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