Yahoo – AFP,
Florian CAZERES with Yann SCHREIBER in Frankfurt, November 13, 2019
Hopes are high that US electric pioneer Tesla's first European factory just outside Berlin will boost German carmakers, but it also ups the pressure on homegrown manufacturers to raise their battery-powered game.
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| Tesla would be the first foreign car company to set up shop in Germany "in decades" sector analyst Stefan Bratzel says (AFP Photo/John THYS) |
Hopes are high that US electric pioneer Tesla's first European factory just outside Berlin will boost German carmakers, but it also ups the pressure on homegrown manufacturers to raise their battery-powered game.
Elon Musk's
Tuesday announcement that his Californian firm is coming marks the first
foreign car company setting up shop in Germany "in decades," said
analyst Stefan Bratzel of the Center of Automotive Management -- "symbolic
for the new world and the reordering of the industry."
Economy
minister Peter Altmaier trumpeted "a great success," saying Germany
had prevailed in "intense competition" with other European countries.
Musk
unveiled Tesla's European touchdown at an industry event in Berlin, saying he had
picked a site in Brandenburg for the factory, which is expected to bring
roughly 7,000 jobs.
Slated for
an area southeast of the German capital, the plant "will build batteries,
powertrains and vehicles, starting with Model Y" SUVs, Musk later tweeted.
Production
is to start in 2021 at the earliest.
"I
think it's a good thing, it will create jobs and electric cars are good for the
environment," said Mathias Wirth, who lives in Gruenheide, set to host the
Tesla plant.
"It's
a big opportunity for people living here," agreed fellow resident Iris
Siebman.
 |
Musk said
the German state of Brandenburg offers "a lower than average paid workforce
in the former East Germany" and space to expand (AFP
Photo/Tobias SCHWARZ)
|
'Pressure
on the Germans'
Tesla
accounts for almost one in three electric vehicles sold in western Europe, and
worldwide sales of its Model 3 have already overtaken those of BMW's 3 Series
sedans, although "German sales remain disappointing", according to
analyst Matthias Schmidt.
Electric
vehicles more broadly have fallen short of ambitions, with Chancellor Angela
Merkel this year targeting one million on the road by 2022 -- two years later
than she had previously aimed for.
"Elon
Musk's decision in favour of Germany... adds more momentum to electric mobility
than 100 summits called by the chancellor," said Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer,
head of the University of Duisburg-Essen's Center for Automotive Research.
"Competition
has always made people better and faster, so it's good news for Volkswagen, BMW
and Daimler too," he added.
But there
is also no doubt Musk's move "puts pressure on the Europeans and the
Germans," said Christoph Schalast, professor at the Frankfurt School of
Finance and Management.
German
giants are behind in adapting fleets to meet new European emissions limits, and
have left it until late to commit to electric drive in a big way.
In the near
term, bosses "won't be losing too much sleep, but the danger is if they
wait too long with their own credible electric vehicle offerings, they may
begin to lose some of their credibility," analyst Schmidt said.
A German
car industry source told AFP they were relaxed about Tesla's announcement,
hoping the competitor's arrival would accelerate the country's electric
transition.
 |
Elon Musk
hailed hailed "outstanding" German engineering as a factor in his
choice of a site near Berlin (AFP Photo/Jörg Carstensen)
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'Made in
Germany'
On stage
Tuesday, Musk hailed "outstanding" German engineering as one factor
playing into the choice for Berlin.
The capital
can lend "creativity" and English-speakers, "the engineering and
programming hipsters," while Brandenburg offers "a lower than average
paid workforce in the former East Germany" and space to expand.
But Schmidt
warned the Californian risks running into "bureaucratic hell" in
Germany, with Musk's new site just a few kilometres (miles) from the
Berlin-Brandenburg airport.
The planned
hub is almost a decade behind schedule, largely down to problems with its fire
suppression system.
Even
without such dramatic delays, Tesla is unlikely to throw together a factory in
the one year its new Chinese site required.
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