France Courting Elon Musk for Tesla's Next Gigafactory Location

Quincy Jon, Tech Times 14 June 2023, 04:06 pm

France is making a solid push to persuade Elon Musk to choose the country as the location for Tesla's next gigafactory, according to a high-ranking French official.

Jean-Noel Barrot, France's digital minister, made the most unequivocal statement about France's desire for Musk's investment in an interview with CNBC. This comes after Barrot recently warned that Twitter, owned by Elon Musk, might get banned if it does not comply with the proposed legislation.

Barrot stressed the importance of having a Tesla plant in France and cited the enormous amount of time and work that had been put out to ensure it was feasible.

France Gearing Up to Becoming an EV Powerhouse

With the opening of its first battery factory, France is establishing itself as an electric car production powerhouse. The French government wants to reindustrialize and catch up to Chinese electric vehicle makers.

France's first battery facility opened in May. The Lens facility is expected to start production this summer, creating 400 jobs this year and 2,000 over time. The facility will produce 800,000 annually. This factory is one of three proposed in Germany and Italy, The Guardian reported.

A meeting between the Tesla CEO and French President Emmanuel Macron is being set up as another sign of France's determination to get Elon Musk's attention. Artificial intelligence, social media, regulatory frameworks, and enhancing French and European competitiveness in the automotive and battery industries are just a few of the subjects anticipated to be discussed.

Elon Musk, currently searching for an appropriate location for Tesla's next Gigafactory in Europe, will speak at the Viva Tech summit in Paris. The tech mogul may use this significant technology conference to investigate opportunities in France, where the government will be present.

With @ElonMusk, we talked about the attractiveness of France and the significant progress in the electric vehicle and energy sectors. We also talked about digital regulation. We have so much to do together. See you this afternoon at the #ChooseFrance Summit! pic.twitter.com/wkdwjv45OG
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) May 15, 2023

While Barrot was attempting to persuade Elon Musk to make substantial investments in France, his position on Twitter was quite different. The minister recently said that if Twitter doesn't follow the proposed Digital Services Act, it may be banned in the European Union.

Tech firms must fight illicit material and misinformation under the legislation, which takes effect in August. If you don't comply, you risk paying hefty penalties that might equal up to 6% of Twitter's total annual revenue. If Twitter continues violating the rules, it might be banned from the EU market.

Twitter Facing Debt Issues

In a related issue, Elon Musk's choice not to pay the rent for Twitter's premises has impacted Goldman Sachs' commercial mortgage portfolio. Goldman Sachs' banking division reported delinquent commercial real estate loans of $840 million to have increased significantly by 612% in the first quarter, according to Business Insider.

Twitter's failure to pay rent since November of the prior year is one cause of this rise in delinquencies. Goldman Sachs is a member of a group of financial institutions that provided Columbia Property Trust, which owns several Twitter office buildings, with a $1.7 billion loan.

Since buying Twitter, Musk's cost-cutting strategies, such as skipping rent payments, have been made clear. The business has struggled financially as it works to settle the $12.5 billion debt Elon Musk accrued as part of the purchase.

Despite Musk's refusal to pay Twitter's rent, Columbia Property Trust is suing the social media site for breaking its lease agreement.