1 best of : Tesla Buys German Engineering Company to Help Boost Production

Tesla announced today that it will acquire Grohmann Engineering, a German company that specializes in automated manufacturing. The purchase will help Tesla reach its goal of producing 500,000 cars a year by 2018, up from an estimated 80,000 vehicles it plans to make this year.

Under the agreement, the manufacturing technology company will be renamed Tesla Grohmann Engineering. Parts of Tesla’s automated manufacturing systems will be designed and made at Grohmann’s headquarters in Prum, Germany. Grohmann will serve as the initial base for Tesla Advanced Automation Germany with other locations to follow, Tesla said.

German authorities are expected to clear the acquisition in early 2017. At that time, Tesla hopes the deal will help improve the speed and quality of production, while at the same time reducing costs.

“To date, we have increased the production rate at our Fremont Factory by 400% in four years, and we expect this acquisition to accelerate that growth rate,” Tesla said in a blog post today.

Grohmann has developed production lines for batteries and fuel cells for a number of automakers. Among its partners were Daimler and BMW, reports Reuters.

In other Tesla news, the California carmaker confirmed plans to nail down a location for its second Gigafactory in Europe next year, reports Eletrek. The factory will produce batteries as well as cars. “There’s no question that long-term Tesla will have at least one – and maybe two or three – vehicle and battery factory locations in Europe,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk reportedly said.

Source: Tesla, Reuters, Eletrek