Musk Says Tesla's First European Production Plant Will Be In Berlin (TSLA)

This is a bit surprising for a few reasons. First off, Tesla's acquisition of German manufacturing automation specialist  Grohmann Engineering, did not go smoothly, in part due to real cultural differences. Secondly, although Mr. Musk seems to like being near airports (see SpaceX - LAX tunnel) if he was looking for a big chunk of land, the old Tempelhof Airport space is still empty.

Third, although there seems to be a budding bromance between Musk and VW CEO Dr. Diess, it seems that setting up shop is quite the in-your-face challenge to the German auto industry.

From Reuters via CNBC:
UPDATE 3-Tesla to build first European plant in Berlin, Musk says

Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said on Tuesday the electric-car maker will build its first European factory as well as an engineering and design center in Berlin.

By building a plant in Germany, Tesla will be able to add the “Made in Germany” accolade. Berlin also has earmarked financial support for manufacturing electric car battery cells.
Musk, in a tweet, said that Tesla will build batteries, powertrains and vehicles, starting with Model Y lower-priced sports utility vehicle at the Berlin factory.

Last month, Tesla said it expected its European factory to start production in 2021. The carmaker is also gearing up to open its factory in Shanghai.

Musk made the announcement about the Berlin plant at the Golden Steering Wheel awards ceremony in Germany. He said the factory will be near the new Berlin airport. Musk had said in June last year that Germany is the frontrunner for its first factory in Europe.

“Tesla is coming to Brandenburg with a big investment,” Dietmar Woidke, state premier of Brandenburg, which surrounds Berlin, said in a statement. “We lobbied for this for a long time in intensive talks and with good arguments.”.....

....MUCH MORE

If interested see also:
Oct. 25
"VW CEO corrects TSLA critics: ‘Tesla is not niche. The Model 3 is a large-series (car)’" (TSLA)
Oct. 25
"Tesla is in ‘final stages’ of selecting site for European Gigafactory" (TSLA)
Oct. 29
"Tesla stock cut to sell at Roth, margins 'unsustainable'" (plus VW does a drive-by) TSLA

The stock is down $9.12 at $318.59  and VW is going to buy them.
(sorry, got carried away, thinking about the AAPL rumors that used to get floated by the so-called 'knowledgeable')....

*****

....That said, if VW were to make a move on TSLA it would probably be as much for batteries as for cars. The Germans are looking at having to make some hefty investments if they are to reach their electric vehicle goals
This post is from 2016:
Volkswagen To Invest Up To 10 Billion Euros In New Battery Factory

The most recent post we have is June's "Batteries: Volkswagen Leads €886 Million Investment in Northvolt" which followed May's "Volkswagen to Reshuffle $56bn Battery Push as Samsung Deal at Risk" 

One last point. We've been posting on Tesla since before the IPO (June 29, 2010: $17.00) and for almost that entire period have counseled against shorting, although we have done so five or six times it is a very, very risky little game.
Most recently it looked like the company (and thus the stock) was down for the count when it went under $200 but...via FinViz:

That big bit of verticality over on the right is actually a combination of a big gap up and some serious short covering which, with any downturn would make a natural target before levitation resumes.

Tuesday's close was at $349.93 up $4.84 on the day.

If interested here is Whitney Tilson with some thoughts on his near disaster:

Whitney Tilson on Shorting Tesla (and other stuff) TSLA

Here's another short seller from back in the day (2013):