Tesla Acquires German Automation Firm Grohmann To Accelerate EV Production Targeting 500K Vehicles Per Year
Tesla is growing faster than probably most people anticipated. The company is certainly outperforming Wall Street's expectations coming off its first profitable quarter since 2013 in which it recorded net income of $22 million, or 14 cents a share, for the three-month period ended September 30, 2016. To keep the momentum going and to hit its ambitious target of producing 500,000 cars per year by 2018, Tesla today announced plans to acquire Grohmann Engineering, a major player in automation manufacturing systems.
"Accelerating a sustainable energy future is only possible with high-volume factories. They allow us to manufacture high-quality products with economies of scale, making them more affordable and accessible to the world. As the machine that builds the machine, our factories are so important that we believe they will ultimately deserve an order of magnitude more attention in engineering than what they produce. At very high production volumes, the factory becomes more of a product than the product itself," Tesla said.
Tesla is building electric vehicles as fast as it can to keep up with demand. In the past four years, Tesla has increased the production rate at its Fremont Factory by 400 percent, and it expects this acquisition to accelerate that growth rate.
In its most recent quarter, Tesla saw net orders for its new Model S and Model X vehicles grow by 68 percent year-over-year. It also opened 17 new stores and service centers to increase its customer support network to 250 locations globally the third quarter.
Once the deal with Grohmann is complete, the automation company will become Tesla Grohmann Automation. It will serve as the initial base for Tesla Advanced Automation Germany headquarters with plans to add more locations in the years to come. Grohmann founder and CEO Klaus Grohmann will continue to be in charge and will oversee an aggressive expansion effort consisting of over 1,000 advanced engineering and skilled technician job hires in Germany over the next two years.
"Accelerating a sustainable energy future is only possible with high-volume factories. They allow us to manufacture high-quality products with economies of scale, making them more affordable and accessible to the world. As the machine that builds the machine, our factories are so important that we believe they will ultimately deserve an order of magnitude more attention in engineering than what they produce. At very high production volumes, the factory becomes more of a product than the product itself," Tesla said.
Tesla is building electric vehicles as fast as it can to keep up with demand. In the past four years, Tesla has increased the production rate at its Fremont Factory by 400 percent, and it expects this acquisition to accelerate that growth rate.
In its most recent quarter, Tesla saw net orders for its new Model S and Model X vehicles grow by 68 percent year-over-year. It also opened 17 new stores and service centers to increase its customer support network to 250 locations globally the third quarter.
Once the deal with Grohmann is complete, the automation company will become Tesla Grohmann Automation. It will serve as the initial base for Tesla Advanced Automation Germany headquarters with plans to add more locations in the years to come. Grohmann founder and CEO Klaus Grohmann will continue to be in charge and will oversee an aggressive expansion effort consisting of over 1,000 advanced engineering and skilled technician job hires in Germany over the next two years.
