Tesla has made a comeback and has acquired a company that was in a critical situation. This move, that of acquiring the German company Manz AG, has been part of its production strategy. Why? Because it is a key step to strengthen Tesla’s capacity in industrial automation and improve the efficiency in the production of its electric vehicles. In other words, Tesla is looking to completely dominate the technology market!
What is Manz AG?
We are talking about a German company specializing in robots and precision machinery to manufacture technological products. Everything seemed to be going well, but in December 2024 it had major financial problems and declared bankruptcy. Tesla, of course, saw in this bankruptcy a potential help, looked at the situation and decided to buy it to keep its technology and employees. Once Manz AG was declared insolvent, Tesla has taken the opportunity to acquire its main assets, including 300 highly trained employees and its plant in Reutlingen.
Why is this purchase important?
Let’s keep in mind that Tesla wants to lead the technological and robotics landscape, as this purchase allows it to integrate cutting-edge technologies into its manufacturing processes, making its gigafactories more efficient and reducing production costs.
In addition, by having also acquired the 300 workers of the German factory, it will not have to train the workers because it will be the same employees (not all) of Manz AG who will continue working, now under the name of Tesla. What does Tesla intend then? Well, to improve its gigafactories (the factories where it produces batteries and electric cars)
Robots that build cars
This is Tesla’s main plan, to use more robots and fewer humans in its factories, and this is not new, Musk has been insisting for years that the future of the automotive industry is like this and now, with the inventory that it has acquired from Manz AG, they will be able to make electric cars faster, reduce costs (because robots do not need a salary, vacations or breaks…) and thus increase production.
So, Tesla’s plan is clear: build machines that build machines.
Benefits of this purchase
Obviously, for Tesla this is a very good investment because they will be able to make many more vehicles in much less time, something that will be key in their global expansion (which is what they are looking for). These gigafactories will be able to generate and manufacture more batteries with fewer resources, the cost of production will go down, making the process much more profitable for them and will make Tesla continue to position itself as a leader in automotive technology, since it will be very difficult for anyone to follow in its steps.
And is there anything wrong?
Of course, there are challenges that are putting Tesla in the public eye, starting with the fact that it will lay off approximately 100 employees from Manz AG, because they are not part of its business plan.
In addition, the fact of building machines that take away human jobs is a moral debate. Should we allow humans not to work because machines do it? Should we base our entire economic system on mass production? There are many unknowns that arise when we talk about this type of substitution, and even more so in an economic and social context in which the majority of jobs that our young people find are precarious jobs. Perhaps this is one of the greatest challenges that Tesla will have to face in this new journey.
Tesla continues to show that it wants to lead the future with its fully automated factories. Whether this strategy will be a success or a challenge remains to be seen, but it is clear that it is showing a production model that could very soon be the future in all industries. Are we entering a new industrial revolution?