Tesla Plans to Make Investments in France, Following Musk's Visit with French President

Tesla is planning to make potential investments in France following Elon Musk's visit with the French President Emmanuel Macron. France has been long considered by the company to build its next Gigafactory, along with other countries in Europe.

FRANCE-POLITICS-ECONOMY — SpaceX, Twitter and electric car maker Tesla CEO Elon Musk (C) looks on during a round table at the 6th edition of the "Choose France" Summit at the Chateau de Versailles, outside Paris on May 15, 2023. Since 2018, the Choose France Summit seeks to promote France's economic attractiveness and encourage international investment across the country and brings together hundreds of leaders from the largest multinational corporations. LUDOVIC MARIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Investing in France

France President Emmanual Macron met with business chiefs on Monday to urge them to invest in the country. According to a report from Electrek, this includes Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk, who is planning to discuss with the French president the potential of the company investing in France.

Musk told local media that he is hopeful after the meeting as it looks like France really wants to throw its shot at this partnership, making a significant investment in the future despite no confirmation if it will push through. This meeting with the French president comes at perfect timing as Tesla needs to secure a deal for an additional factory in Europe.

Tesla just recently ramped up production at Gigafacotry Berlin to 5,000 units per week, however, they are planning to ramp up their global annual production capacity from 2 million units to 20 million units by 2030.

While Berlin has still space for this planned growth, pushing for a new Gigafactory is much possible for the company. Macron stated, "We talked about the attractiveness of France and the significant progress in the electric vehicle and energy sectors."

Musk and Macron

Politico reported that the two mentioned several topics of common interest, including the European and French response to the United States Inflation Reduction Act. Musk was also impressed with the president and the government's outlook, and how they are welcoming to the industry, hence his confidence in securing this deal.

This meeting between the CEO and the presidents comes just days after the announcement of France's first concrete step toward countering President Joe Biden's Buy American green subsidies package. He stated that he would alter existing measures and restrictions to encourage green vehicle purchases to reward manufacturers by the end of this year.

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Musk also met with French finance minister Bruno Le Maire to discuss the possibility of the company taking advantage of tax credits for investments in green technologies in the country. La Maire stated that he would rather keep the content of their negotiations private to avoid cut-throat competition between rival companies.

Choose France

Reuters reported that the Choose France summit is a chance for the French government to regain the initiative with Marcon's pro-business reform drive and shift the attention to his promotion of a lower carbon industry. Along with Musk, the president met with the executive of Pfizer and some business chiefs of other companies at the Château de Versailles.