Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Speaking at an Axel Springer event in Germany, says Tesla is open to a friendly merger deal with a rival carmaker.
Musk was asked if he would consider buying a rival carmaker given that his electric car company's market value of more than $500 billion would make it easy for Tesla to launch a takeover bid.
Here is how Elon Musk replied.
“We are definitely not going to launch a hostile takeover. If somebody said it would be a good idea to merge with Tesla, we would have this conversation,” Musk said.
Thus, while Musk rules out hostile takeovers he is open to purchase negotiations with other carmakers that will result in friendly mergers.
Musk is in Berlin now. With the completion of the Tesla factory in Grünheide, the boss of the world's largest e-car manufacturer wants to spend more time in Germany. Actually, he is there for the Axel Springer Award.
Musk also said that in ten years' time, the majority of new vehicles will have autonomous driving capabilities. At the same time, for the time being, there will be situations in which people like to drive themselves. "But it will be increasingly unusual to drive your own car."
With the completion of the Tesla factory in Grünheide near Berlin, he will spend more time in Germany, said Musk. The US company plans to build up to 500,000 electric cars per year in the plant from next summer.
Springer Group's (“Bild”, “Welt”) prize is being awarded for the fifth time. This award annually honors people who, according to Springer, are particularly innovative, create and change markets, shape culture and at the same time face their social responsibility.
Previous winners were Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, web pioneer Tim Berners-Lee, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and the economist and critic of online platforms, Shoshana Zuboff.
Armen Hareyan is the founder and the Editor in Chief of Torque News. He founded TorqueNews.com in 2010, which since then has been publishing expert news and analysis about the automotive industry. He can be reached at Torque News Twitter, Facebok, Linkedin and Youtube.
