Elon Musk says he might purchase soon-to-be-shuttered General Motors factories and start assembling Teslas inside them.
Musk made the remark in an interview with CBS鈥� 鈥�60 Minutes鈥�, saying he might be interested in purchasing some of the five facilities GM plans to stop using by the end of 2019.
A controversial figure known for making outlandish statements, Musk may nonetheless be serious about exploring an interest in the GM factories, according to one analyst.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always hard to tell with Elon. Sometimes he鈥檚 musing off the cuff and sometimes there鈥檚 really thoughtful strategy behind it,鈥� Will Mitchell, a professor of strategic management at the University of Toronto鈥檚 Rotman School of Management, told 麻豆影视 Channel Sunday.
In this case, Mitchell said, there could be seriousness to Musk鈥檚 claims because Tesla is delivering more vehicles than it ever has before and running near production limits at its existing factory in California.
鈥淭here鈥檚 pent-up demand for Teslas and for electric vehicles generally. They will need more production capacity,鈥� he said.
One of the five facilities earmarked for closure by GM is the assembly plant in Oshawa, Ont.
Mitchell said there was a 鈥渧ery low鈥� chance that Oshawa would be one of the expansion targets for Tesla, given the difficulties of cross-border manufacturing and other issues.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a huge plant. They鈥檙e not ready to go to that scale of production yet,鈥� he said.
鈥淣ever say never, but it鈥檚 unlikely.鈥�
Additionally, Mitchell said, the Oshawa plant would need significant retooling in order to produce electric vehicles. GM had cited a company-wide move toward electric vehicles as one of the reasons it was abandoning Oshawa.
An estimated 2,500 jobs will be lost in Oshawa when GM ceases operations in that city. Asked what theoretical interest from Tesla could mean for affected workers, Mitchell said they would need to be retrained for electric vehicle production just as the plant would need to be renovated.
鈥淚f Tesla wants to talk to Unifor and talk to the workers, that would be great 鈥� but I wouldn鈥檛 mortgage a house on it right now,鈥� he said.
Unifor president Jerry Dias agreed with that sentiment, telling 麻豆影视 Channel he would be happy to talk to Tesla but didn鈥檛 expect anything to happen on that front.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e intriguing comments, but I鈥檓 not attaching a lot of weight to it,鈥� he said.
Dias said electric vehicle sales projections he had seen don鈥檛 suggest a significant need to manufacture the vehicles at large scale.
鈥淭he only solution for Oshawa is General Motors at this time,鈥� he said.
