Germany Welcomes Tesla Gigafactory to Berlin-Brandenburg Location

Berlin (ots) -

Political and business leaders have hailed Elon Musk's
announcement that EV giant Tesla will build its European plant
just outside Berlin.

Berlin (GTAI) - The proverbial champagne corks were popping after Tesla founder
Musk enthused "Berlin rocks!" and announced the American carmaker would be
setting up shop in the German capital and surrounding state of Brandenburg.
Tesla reportedly plans to establish its fourth so-called Gigafactory in the
Brandenburg town of Grünheide as well as a design and engineering center in
Berlin itself. The project will create an estimated 10,000 jobs and is expected
to be up and running by late 2021.

"Tesla's decision to establish a major battery and car factory here in Germany
is a wonderful success for Germany as a business location," said German Economic
Affairs and Energy Minister Peter Altmaier. "In the past few months, there was
intense competition between various European countries. The fact that Germany
got the nod is an important and very positive signal. It is a milestone in terms
of electro-mobility and battery-cell production. This is complete proof that the
German government's strategy of investing in these future-oriented sectors and
prioritizing them is a correct one. We expect to become a major intentional
center in these areas in years to come."

The German government subsidizes purchases of new electric vehicles and is
investing hundreds of millions of euros in improving EV charging infrastructure
in Germany. Germany Trade and Invest (GTAI) is one of the state agencies that
helped convince Tesla to come to the country and take part in this mobility
revolution.

"We've been talking to Tesla for around three years," says GTAI CEO Robert
Hermann. "Tesla's decision reflects how attractive Germany is as a place of
investment and technology, and its central location will make it possible for
the company to expand quickly into further European Union markets."

Musk said that the Brandenburg facility would produce batteries and both the Y
Model and flagship Model 3 and that the company was looking to more broadly
enlist Germany's traditional automotive excellence.

"The future of mobility is becoming reality in Germany," says GTAI automotive
expert Stefan Di Bitonto. "With this strategic decision, Tesla has underscored
Germany's leading position as an automotive research and production location.
Here you can not only develop but also build cars. That goes for both the
premium and volume segments. Around 40 percent of all premium autos worldwide
are built in Germany. As a rule, the latest innovations are researched and
realized in the premium segment before they are used on the mass market."

German carmakers and automotive parts suppliers hold a third of all the patents
in the automotive sector worldwide, and in 2018, 25.7 billion euros - around 37
percent of money devoted to R&D in Germany as a whole - came from the automotive
industry.

Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI) is the economic development agency of the Federal
Republic of Germany. GTAI supports German companies setting up in foreign
markets, promotes Germany as a business location and assists foreign companies
setting up in Germany.

Contact:
Jefferson Chase
Senior Manager
Corporate Communications GERMANY TRADE & INVEST

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T +49 30 200 099 170
jefferson.chase@gtai.com
www.gtai.com

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