(Bloomberg) -- In its search for a potential factory location in Europe, Tesla Inc. examined areas in Germany's state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rheinische Post reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the topic. Tesla representatives also inspected possible sites in Lower Saxony, newspaper NWZ reported earlier in the week.
In June, CEO Elon Musk called Germany “a leading choice for Europe” in a reply to a tweet asking if it would be wise for Tesla to set up its first European gigafactory in the country. “Perhaps on the German-French border makes sense, near the Benelux countries,” Musk added.
Europe is projected to be the world's second-largest driver of electric cars in the next decade, trailing only China. Tesla is racing against time as more established players wake up to the electric future. Customers can already choose between a growing number of battery-powered models from the likes of Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar and Audi.
--With assistance from Christoph Rauwald.
To contact the reporter on this story: Alexander Kell in Frankfurt at akell@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lukas Strobl at lstrobl@bloomberg.net, James Ludden
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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