Tesla's German landing will fuel competition - Volkswagen CEO

Reuters

Published Sep 24, 2021 11:04AM ET

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The planned opening of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)'s first gigafactory in Europe later this year will force local industry to step up its game, Volkswagen (DE:VOWG_p) Chief Executive Herbert Diess said on Friday.

Diess' comments, made on Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) https://twitter.com/Herbert_Diess/status/1441392942787137539, come as Tesla continues work on its plant in Gruenheide, near Berlin, as it awaits final building approval for the 5.8 billion euro ($6.8 billion) site.

"Efficiency is key for the transformation of our industry/Germany. Tesla develops in shorter processes, works closer with the best in the industry and takes more risk," Diess, a known admirer of the electric car pioneer led by Elon Musk, said.

Wolfsburg-based Volkswagen, Europe's largest carmaker, aims to overtake Tesla as the world's top seller of electric cars by 2025, a claim that is underscored by an ambitious plan to build six large battery factories in Europe by 2030.

"Gruenheide will increase competition in Germany - also with Wolfsburg."