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Elon Musk has made a new comment on his willingness to discuss a merger between Tesla and other automakers.
The comment is interesting in the context that Tesla is now by far the most valuable automaker in the world and the industry finds itself in the midst of an extremely disruptive transition.
Although Tesla was never a subsidiary of another automaker, it has had partnerships with established auto manufacturers in the past.
Toyota and Daimler were both big investors in the California automaker, and Tesla produced electric powertrains for them.
These procurement programs were phased out during the first half of the 2010s.
In 2014, Daimler sold its stake in the electric automaker, and Toyota did the same in 2017.
Since then, Tesla has had no sort of partnership with other automakers other than the sale of regulatory credits.
In recent years, Tesla’s valuation has risen, and in recent months it has quickly overtaken all other automakers to reach a valuation of over half a trillion dollars today.
Today CEO Elon Musk received an Axel Springer Award in Germany, and in an interview with CEO Mathias Döpfner, he was asked if this was a serious option to buy an existing automaker.
Musk replied:
We’re definitely not going to launch a hostile takeover, but if anyone said it would be a good idea to merge with Tesla, we would have this conversation.
The CEO did not disclose any ongoing discussions about a merger or acquisition.
Tesla has engaged in many acquisitions in recent years, but most of them have been related to manufacturing technology and talent.
Taking Electrek
I put a low chance that this will happen, but financially it is certainly starting to make sense.
If we look at the 20 most valuable car makers, Tesla could absorb a lot of them without massive dilution:
The question is, would it serve Tesla’s mission to accelerate the advent of electric transportation and sustainable energy?
Personally, I have no idea. Tesla would take control of a significant workforce and production capacity, but it would have to convert that capacity into the production of electric vehicles.
Since acquiring the Fremont plant, it’s clear that Tesla prefers to build a plant and production capacity from scratch.
So, is it really faster and more efficient to acquire the production capacity or build it yourself?
I don’t know, but I find the prospect of a possible merger with an established automaker interesting.
What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.
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