PALO ALTO - Tesla Motors says it has agreed to buy a German engineering company to help automate its electric car manufacturing.
The Palo Alto-based company is buying Grohmann Engineering, which Tesla says is a leader in highly automated manufacturing methods.
Tesla expects to start building the $35,000 Model 3 electric car next year, and it wants to build 500,000 cars per year in two years. More than 300,000 people have put down deposits to reserve a Model 3.
Tesla expects to add more than 1,000 engineering and technician jobs in Germany over the next two years.
The company says the acquisition should bring improvement in the speed and quality of production at its Fremont factory. The deal is expected to close early next year.
The purchase price wasn't disclosed.
