E-car factory – Tesla boss Elon Musk is committed to expansion plans in Grünheide
dpa/AP
Video: rbb|24 | Mar 13, 2024 | Material: rbb24 Brandenburg aktuell | Image: dpa/AP
A good week after the arson attack on the power supply, the production lines are rolling again at the Tesla factory in Grünheide. At a staff meeting, company boss Elon Musk commented on his expansion plans in Brandenburg.
Tesla boss Elon Musk has committed to expanding Tesla’s only European car factory even after the attack on the power supply to the factory in Grünheide (Oder-Spree). “Yes, absolutely,” said Musk on Wednesday during a visit to the “Gigafactory” when asked by a journalist whether further expansion was planned. “I think this is a great place.”
After the attack on the power supply last week and the After several days of production downtime at the site, the American came to Grünheide to get an idea of the situation. The entrepreneur landed at the capital’s BER airport on Wednesday morning, drove on to the factory premises and was greeted by numerous employees with cheers and shouts of “Elon”. This is what rbb reporters report.
Musk wants to triple production in Grünheide
Musk left the factory premises in the afternoon and has apparently now flown off: his private jet, whose registration number is publicly known and tracked by several websites, is said to have taken off towards Paris at around 2:40 p.m.
The US electric car manufacturer wants to increase production from the planned 500,000 cars per year to one million, most recently it was extrapolated to 300,000 cars per year. According to the company, around 12,500 employees work in Grünheide. The majority of the residents of Grünheide In February, voted against a planned expansion to a new area with a freight station, for which forest would have to be cleared.
Tesla bosses speak to employees
Tesla boss Musk spoke to employees around midday in a large tent on the factory premises. He said “They can’t stop us” and in German “I love you”. Musk’s words apparently weren’t meant to be made public. Shortly after the start of his speech, a company vehicle parked in front of the assembled media representatives with loud music so that not a word could be heard. Musk carried his son named X Æ A-XII on his shoulders during his appearance.
After Musk, plant manager André Thierig also spoke to the employees and thanked them for their handling of the situation. “This is an attack on the giga factory,” he said. “We all stick together.” Thierig also announced annual salary changes. “You can rely on it.” A collective agreement is not necessary. Thierig promised a bonus system and emphasized: “You are doing great things.”
Woidke and Wegner meet with Musk
Tesla boss Musk also met on Wednesday with the heads of government from Brandenburg and Berlin, Dietmar Woidke (SPD) and Kai Wegner (CDU). “Berlin and Brandenburg stand together by Tesla. The settlement is a huge benefit for the capital region and Germany as a whole as a business location,” both said in a joint statement on Wednesday evening.
Elon Musk’s visit on Wednesday was a clear commitment to Brandenburg as an industrial location, Woidke added. “I am grateful to everyone who helped ensure that operations could now start again after the terrorist attack – faster than initially feared.”
Wegner and Woidke welcomed the fact that the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office has taken over the investigation: “This terrorist attack not only affected an important industrial company, but also the population and important infrastructure such as a hospital and a food warehouse. The investigation must be carried out accordingly intensively and with priority.” This must now be punished with the utmost severity. At the same time, consideration must be given to how the critical infrastructure can be better secured in the future, said the two country leaders.
Tesla, for its part, also made it clear that the company expected the crime to be fully investigated. “We condemn the attack in the strongest possible terms and trust in consistent and appropriate prosecution by the responsible authorities,” the US electric car manufacturer announced on Wednesday evening.
Production started again on Wednesday
Production at the plant started again on Wednesday, and the first early shift since the incident showed up for work in the morning, as the chairwoman of the works council, Michaela Schmitz, told rbb. “The machines have been checked and started up safely so that the early shift can start again.” This ended the forced break after the attack on the factory’s power supply. The work has been in progress since Monday back on the power grid.
Schmitz also emphasized in the interview that the employees and the factory management had behaved professionally after the arson attack. The employees were paid their full salary during the production stop. “In my opinion, that also went exemplary. In other companies, people might have already talked about short-time work,” said Schmitz.
Forest occupiers will stay until at least Friday
On Tuesday last week, previously unknown perpetrators set fire to a freely accessible electricity pylon in a field in eastern Brandenburg, which is part of the power supply for the car factory in Grünheide. The far-left Vulcan group said it was responsible for the attack. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office took over the investigation.
Broadcast: rbb24 Inforadio, March 13, 2024, 7:05 a.m