Elon Musk has issued a stark warning about the future expansion of Tesla's only European gigafactory, stating it is contingent on the company avoiding interference from "outside organisations". The Tesla CEO's comments, made in an interview screened for employees at the Giga Berlin plant on Wednesday, come days before a pivotal vote that could see the powerful German union IG Metall gain control of the site's works council.
The works council is an elected body of employees, mandated by German law, that negotiates pay and working conditions with management. Musk stated that while Tesla would "ideally" expand the factory to produce battery cells, the Cybercab robotaxi, and the Optimus robot, such plans would be jeopardised by external pressure. "Things certainly get harder if there are outside organisations who are pushing Tesla in the wrong direction," Musk said.
Fierce Dispute Ahead of Election
The run-up to next week's works council election has been marked by escalating tensions between Tesla management and IG Metall. Earlier this month, Tesla filed a criminal complaint against an IG Metall representative, accusing them of secretly recording an internal meeting. The union denied the allegation and responded with its own complaint accusing Giga Berlin's senior director, Andre Thierig, of defamation.
Both sides have since agreed to a truce ahead of the vote, according to a statement from IG Metall on Thursday. The union has frequently clashed with Tesla over working conditions at the Brandenburg factory since it opened in 2022.
European Sales Slump Adds Pressure
The debate over Giga Berlin's future unfolds against a backdrop of collapsing Tesla sales in Europe. Registrations of Tesla electric vehicles fell by nearly 38% in the European Union last year, according to industry data. The decline has been attributed in part to backlash over Musk's political interventions and his public endorsement of the German far-right party, Alternative for Germany (AfD).
In January 2025, Tesla's European sales dropped to just 8,000 units, less than half the number sold by its Chinese rival, BYD, data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) shows.
Future Hinges on Vote and Regulatory Approval
Musk's conditional warning places significant emphasis on the outcome of the 19 March works council election. He explicitly stated, "We're not going to shut down the factory, but we wouldn't expand it either," if outside organisations made operations "very difficult".
In the same interview, Musk also revealed that Tesla expects to receive regulatory approval to sell its Full Self-Driving (FSD) driver-assist technology in the Netherlands on 20 March. This marks a potential positive development for the company's advanced software offerings in Europe.