Tesla’s marketing strategy has had a bumpy start to October. In addition to the confirmation of the change of headquarters in the United States (from California to Texas), there is now a fleeting trip by Elon Musk to Europe to lead the presentation of the brand new plant located in Berlin, Germany.
Musk traveled to the Germanic country to do everything that the marketing strategy books dictate in these cases: “sell” the project in the community (with a mega party), show himself as the undisputed leader, speak in front of potential employees, convene to the press so that they spread the word about the brand’s plans and, of course, lobby with government authorities.
That’s right, the CEO of Tesla went to Germany, among other things, to do lobby, because on October 14, the Ministry of the Environment of that country will make a key decision regarding the authorization of the gigafactory and there are pressures from environmentalists that Musk wants to throw away.
This Saturday, October 9, from Berlin, Musk said that the first European Teslas should come off the line in November, although mass production will take a little longer.
“Starting with production is very good, but achieving volume, that’s the tricky thing,” he said at a press conference that included a musical show inside the plant that was broadcast on social networks. “It will take longer to achieve high production volumes than it took to build the factory,” he said.
He also assured that volume production will reach 5,000 or “hopefully 10,000” cars a day, and that mass battery cells will be manufactured in the same place, by the end of 2022.
In relation to criticism of the factory’s environmental impact, Musk said it uses “relatively little water” and that battery production is “sustainable.”
Some local environmentalists disagree with the Musk plant because they say it goes against German business culture and will pollute the water.
Musk has almost everything ready and he knows it. Brandenburg’s finance minister said last week that the factory’s chances of gaining approval to operate are 95 percent.
Tesla’s investment in Germany is high and that works in its favor. To all that the assembly plant demanded, it is added that it plans to spend a total of 5.8 billion dollars in a battery plant with 50 GWh capacity next to the site, exceeding the 40 GWh that the local Volkswagen plans in Salzgitter.
And another fact that makes it almost impossible for the opening not to be approved: Musk said he was concerned about getting the staff, so he asked people from “all over Europe” to apply.
Party at #GigaBerlin pic.twitter.com/ZvqARpueOp
– Tobias Lindh (@tobilindh) October 9, 2021
Giga Berlin right now 😳🤯 @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/ExC4bKKRa9
– Tesla Silicon Valley Club (@teslaownersSV) October 9, 2021
Ever seen Tesla coils making music?#GigaBerlin #countyfair pic.twitter.com/sAtXbkxsnt
– Tobias Lindh (@tobilindh) October 9, 2021