Tesla acquires robots company to accelerate car production

Tesla has acquired a Ger𒈔man manufacturing specialist as it scrambles to ramp up production of the mass-market Model 3 next year.

The electric carmaker headed by Elon Musk said its buy of Grohmann Engineering, which automates assemb♉ly lines for batteries with the use of robots, will help it open one or two “gigafactories” in Europe in the coming years.

“We thought it was important that T♐esla become, in part, a German company,” Musk said, explaining the deal to investors Tuesday. “That’s what this w𓆉as all about.”

Tesla, which cranked out 55,000 cars last year, is on track to produce between 80,000 and 90,000 this ඣyear. Still, it will need to accelerate production even faster to meet its goal to produce 500,000 cars in 2018.

Tesla didn’t✃ disclose terms of the deal꧋, which is expected to close in early 2017, pending regulatory approval. Musk said Tesla plans to add at least 1,000 advanced technician jobs in Germany over the next two years.