Presser
Despite significant setbacks, Tesla remains committed to doubling production at the German Gigafactory near Berlin.
The desire to expand the German factory dates back to July 2024, long before increasing competition and reactions to Musk’s political adventures led to significant sales declines. The fact that Tesla wants to significantly expand the factory, where the 500,000th car was built earlier this year, can be considered remarkable given these recent developments. However, according to reports from Bloomberg and Automotive News, this is indeed the case.
The German Tesla factory is now reportedly producing around 5,000 Model Ys per week, after a temporary dip to prepare the factory for the new version of that model. Alexander Riederer, responsible for Tesla’s Business Development in Germany, is said to have indicated that the production rate still needs to double. This also means a further expansion of a factory that is already facing opposition from various activists who believe that the Gigafactory has too great an impact on the environment.
Tesla’s sales in Europe fell by 49 percent in April, while according to Dataforce figures, Tesla sold 62,313 cars in the first four months of 2025. This is significantly less than in the same period last year, when 101,677 Teslas were sold. The Model Y, the only model built in Germany, was sold 35,298 times instead of 68,333 times across European dealerships.