In America, an American automaker must somehow have a Michigan presence in order to be considered a serious American automotive product. Well, not really, but it’s fairly interesting to see Tesla buying a parts supplier in Michigan, which is home of the American “Big Three” automakers, but that seems to be what is taking place. This move will give Tesla an expanded production front when the complete the purchase of Riviera Tools in Grand Rapids, which is a stamping plant that will continue to make various parts for the Tesla models that are due to arrive soon.
It should be a simple transition for Tesla and the employees who work in the plant. The current plan is to simply retain all employees of the plant and rename it Tesla Tool & Die, allowing the plant to begin stamping out Tesla parts that will then be shipped to their Fremont, California assembly plant. The need for such a purchase by Tesla comes with the growth of their sales which has steadily grown since the company opened and is expected to reach the highest ever at over 55,000 vehicles sold this year and so far 10,000 sold during the first quarter of 2015 alone.
Tesla is a California based company that has made a name for itself designing, developing and manufacturing some of the most luxurious and gorgeous electric cars. Their model for a battery pack is much different than other manufacturers who typically place them in the trunk to add weight in the rear of the car. Tesla uses the entire floorboard of their vehicles for the battery and their range generally shows up with at least 200 miles on a full charge. This gives them a massive edge when it comes to performance. The confidence they have in their battery cells is to not even put a gasoline engine on board as a backup, making the battery pack the only power the car offers.
The expectation from Tesla is the will offer the first crossover SUV the Model X later this year with a price in the range of $35,000 and the Model 3 which was not expected until 2017 will show up now in the early part of 2016. All this requires more production and having the Grand Rapids plant will help to make these two vehicles a possibility on the time schedule stated.
Strangely enough, the Tesla direct sales model has been successful thus far, even though many states have disallowed the sales of Tesla cars on their soils, including Michigan. Maybe as Tesla helps to boost the Michigan economy, the ban of sales will be lifted from the state, but that would be quite a feat considering the number of longstanding dealerships that are present in Michigan, which is the home of the three largest automotive manufactures in the US. I guess we will have to wait and see how that plays out, but for now Tesla has a new plant to help them increase the production of their awesome electric car lineup.
Image via Tech News Today.
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